Acıbadem Kayseri Hospital Endocrinology Specialist Dr. Esra Karakaş pointed out that obesity is seen in 3 out of every 10 people and said that the best way to fight obesity is to change the lifestyle. Dr. Karakaş recommended reducing sugar and calorie consumption, eating vegetables and fruits, and increasing movement and exercise.
Emphasizing that obesity is seen in an average of 30 percent of the population in Turkey and that this rate is becoming increasingly common, Acıbadem Kayseri Hospital Endocrinology Specialist Dr. Esra Karakaş stated that obesity has become an increasing public health problem today. Defining obesity as an increase in the amount of fat tissue in the body more than it should be, Dr. Karakaş said, “Obesity occurs due to many reasons such as genetic diseases and mistakes in lifestyle. Especially chronic diseases such as thyroid diseases, insulin resistance, diabetes, vitamin deficiency, especially vitamin D deficiency cause obesity. It can also develop due to rare adrenal gland diseases, hereditary, genetic leptin deficiency and diseases related to leptin resistance.”
“Lifestyle change is a must”
Pointing out the importance of lifestyle changes in obesity, Dr. Karakaş said that sedentary life, consumption of fast food and ready-to-eat foods, reduction in vegetable, fruit consumption and fiber consumption, increase in sugar and high calorie foods cause obesity. He added that lifestyle change is a treatment step that should be at every stage in the fight against obesity and an indispensable part that must be emphasized.
Dr. Karakaş listed the main things to be done for lifestyle change as “increasing movement, regular exercise, ensuring sleep patterns, regulating nutrition, reducing junk food and fast food consumption, increasing fiber consumption due to healthy fats, vegetables and fruits, paying attention to quality protein intake, reducing processed food consumption, controlling daily calorie intake, stress management”.
“Medical treatments should be started”
Stating that medical treatments are also applied in addition to these changes, Dr. Karakaş said, “Before proceeding to radical methods applied in obesity treatment, the patient should be evaluated in endocrinology or internal medicine polyclinics and medical treatments should be started first. These treatments must be under the control of a physician.”
He said that surgical treatment methods have become an option for people who cannot lose enough weight with lifestyle change, diet and medical treatment, people with a body mass index of 40 and above or people with a body mass index of 35 and above who have developed obesity complications.
“We need to reduce screen time”
Referring to the relationship between obesity and diabetes, Dr. Karakaş said, “Not all diabetic patients are more prone to obesity, obesity is more common in patients with Type 2 diabetes with advanced insulin resistance.”
Underlining that sugar, fat and high-calorie foods should be avoided to prevent obesity, Dr. Karakaş continued his words as follows: “Especially to avoid obesity, we need to increase our movement and fiber consumption. We need to increase our consumption of vegetables and fruits. We need to take care to drink plenty of water. We should reduce the consumption of high sugar, fatty and high calorie foods. We should reduce the time we spend in front of the screen. In terms of preventing obesity, I recommend that our vitamin levels should be evaluated from time to time and deficiencies should be corrected by our physicians.”
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