prof. Dr. Alihan Gürkan made statements about obesity, which has been occupied by the public in recent times and is described as the disease of the age. Gürkan, stating that obesity is overweight, said that it has more than one category and subgroups.
TURKEY, THE MOST OBESE COUNTRY IN EUROPE
Stating that surgery is involved in the treatment of people with a body mass index of 35 and above, Gürkan said, “Obesity is a problem not only in Turkey but also in the world. Our problem started to come to the fore. Turkey is now considered the most obese country in Europe. Two-thirds of our country is overweight, half of them are on the obese border. Obesity is considered a serious health problem and the plague of the age. Surgery needs to be used very well here,” he said.
Emphasizing that Europeans show interest in Turkey in terms of surgery, Gürkan said, “Many of the Europeans who want to get rid of obesity come to Turkey. We have a lot of foreign patients. The important thing here is that while providing a health service, it is beneficial to do this job under western conditions and by having medical, conscientious and legal norms. We need to know that people with a body mass index below 35 are not candidates for this surgery.
Gürkan stated that it is wrong for people with a body mass index below 35 to want to have an operation to lose a little weight and put pressure on medical authorities.
“OUR DIET HAS CHANGED”
Underlining that it is wrong to say that every candidate who comes before him is a surgical candidate, Alihan Gürkan said, “Obesity is increasing rapidly in our country. Our diet has changed, we are losing our rural population fed with the Mediterranean diet. We now have a generation that eats fast, eats in the urban western style, and grows up with additives. We never get up, we don’t move, we spend less energy and obesity is inevitable.
“OBESITY IS DIFFERENT FROM CANCER”
Emphasizing the need to be aware of the fact that obesity is a serious health problem in the country, Gürkan said, “Some teachings and even sanctions should come from feeding young children to organizing adults. We have to direct everything from the control of the food consumed to the social sports activities. People should know that there is not a big difference between being cancer and living fat, in terms of mortality. Both are deadly diseases. Educating children about nutrition is important in terms of gaining a generation. (UAV)