The Health Ministry in collaboration with the World Bank will carry out a two-year study to design Turkey's health map in different categories such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, daily physical exercise, time spent on TV and medicine use, among many more. The health map is intended to improve Turkey's health policies.
The project team will have home visits to receive personal information from households. Another objective of the health map is to find out differences in lifestyles. Health associations specialized in different lines will also support the research. The survey staff will be trained before the household visits start.
A similar study was conducted five years ago. Professor Lale Tokgözoğlu of the Turkish Cardiology Association said that the new study will be more comprehensive. Cross-cousin marriages, which are still seen, notably in Turkey's eastern regions, will be examined to develop related policies.
Stressing the rapid lifestyle changes among Turkish people, Tokgözoğlu said some habits like spending many hours in front of the TV or PC is becoming harmful, especially for children. "We need to define how many hours children are busy with their smart phones. It is crucial to project the development of related diseases in the future. On the other side, obesity, hypertension and diabetes are getting more common and their profile has probably changed," she continued.
Although the global lifetime increases, certain studies indicate it will shorten in following generations. "The lack of physical exercise and malnutrition are some of the elements bringing unfavorable health results, which in turn may harm health." Tokgözoğlu said that although the prevalence of chronic disease used to be less in the Aegean region where Mediterranean-style nutrition is more common, the rates are also on the rise. The nation-wide health map will seek to find an answer to the current changes to help the ministry better take care of health problems.
