Why are so many Turks suffering from diabetes?

In Turkey, the number of people suffering from diabetes has increased by 67 percent in the last 20 years. According to the World Health Organization, one in six people in Turkey suffers from diabetes today, which is twice the average for Europe. Women are more affected than men. The WHO has registered a clear trend of increasing cases for two decades, with the risk being particularly high for people over 30 – one in five of them suffers from the disease. For comparison – in Germany, this applies to only one in fifteen.

Criticism of health policy

According to observers, politicians are mainly to blame for this worrying phenomenon. “The big problem behind the increase in diseases is nutrition policy. The Health Ministry is simply not coping here,”, Kayhan Pala, a deputy from the opposition Republican People’s Party, an expert in public nutrition, told DW. He believes that the causes are not genetic, but stem from lifestyle and nutrition: insufficient physical activity and high consumption of carbohydrates and various sugars.

A 2014 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that 45 percent of diabetics were unaware of their disease. This means that millions live without or with a late diagnosis.

New OECD data from 2023 show no improvement: while the number of diabetes cases in Turkey continues to be above the European average, the opposite is true in the field of treatment. MP Pala points out that this reveals the inability of the health system to respond. According to him, there is an urgent need for early diagnosis, consistent control and political will.

Treatment options are not enough

A study by the Turkish Health Ministry confirms the conclusions of the OECD – in many of the diagnosed patients, the blood sugar level is not under control. In addition, control varies by age, gender and region. The situation of patients in poorer regions is the worst, i.e. diabetes is not only a medical, but also a social and economic problem.

Palla believes that without better medical care and better provision of medicines, nothing will change in Turkey. “Some patients have difficulty obtaining the necessary medicines. And even after the diagnosis, communication between patient and doctor is often poor.”

Obesity and fruitless campaigns

The MP is convinced that the fight against morbid obesity plays a decisive role here. But Turkey’s strategies in this regard are not enough. Although obesity is one of the most important risk factors, the measures of the Ministry of Health do not lead to sustainable solutions.

Now the Ministry has come up with a three-year plan to promote healthy eating, including in school and company canteens, as well as to increase physical activity. As part of the campaign “Understand your ideal weight, live healthy” The indicators of 7.7 million people were determined, but the results related to obesity were not made public.

A 2022 WHO report on obesity shows that the proportion of overweight people in Turkey is the largest in Europe – 66.8 percent of the population is affected.

There are no restrictions on the consumption of harmful products

The problem is also due to the food standards in force in Turkey: legal regulations for healthy eating are not sufficient, and the advertising of unhealthy foods is not limited.

Nutrition expert Bülent Şik told DW: “The growth in the consumption of cheap, easily accessible snacks and soft drinks with a high sugar content is directly related to the increase in obesity. Until the production of these types of products is limited, many of the measures will remain symbolic”. MP Pala adds that starchy sugar also contributes to the problem. “It has been scientifically proven that high consumption of high-fructose corn syrup increases the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Even people who are not obese get sick more often if they consume this sugar.”

Pala calls for a fundamental change in the fight against diabetes in Turkey. “We need scientifically based, targeted programs for nutrition, prevention and the fight against sugar and obesity, targeting broad segments of society. We will not achieve anything with simple show projects.”

The MP emphasizes that the fight against diabetes should also focus on children, because healthy nutrition in childhood is crucial. Pala is a supporter of free school meals for all children – as this is one of the most effective measures against obesity and the risks of diabetes.

Author: Burak Yunveren