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Socioeconomic factors affecting the probability of obesity: evidence from a nationwide survey in Turkey

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Abstract

Obesity, with its increasing incidence and prevalence, is a global and acute public health problem due to its high costs and strong negative relationship with many physical and mental health outcomes, including heart disease, diabetes, depression, and mortality. Hence, ascertaining the underlying causes of obesity is essential in improving public health. In this respect, this study investigates the effects of socioeconomic factors of individuals on obesity-related conditions using the Turkey Health Survey, which was conducted in 2016 and had 23,606 respondents, as a data source representing the whole country. Since the health questionnaire used in this study was based on the individual declaration, the “generalized ordered logit model” was used to ensure heterogeneity between categories. There are several striking results in the analysis. It was revealed that physically active individuals had the effect of reducing obesity rates in Turkey. It was also found that alcohol use and smoking did not have a significant effect on obesity rates. Unmarried respondents tended to be less obese compared to those who were married, while female respondents were more prone to obesity than their male counterparts. Finally, having social security insurance had a positive effect on obesity rates, while higher incomes increased the risk of obesity.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from Turkish Statistical Institute. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study.

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Acknowledgements

The data set of this research is provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute. The authors thanks to Turkish Statistical Institute for granting permissions to use Income and Living Conditions Survey.

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The authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey

    Işıl Şirin Selçuk

  2. Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey

    Altuğ Murat Köktaş

  3. Tarsus University, Mersin, Turkey

    Şükrü Anıl Toygar

Authors
  1. Işıl Şirin Selçuk
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  2. Altuğ Murat Köktaş
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  3. Şükrü Anıl Toygar
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by AMK and IŞS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by ŞAT and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

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Correspondence to Altuğ Murat Köktaş.

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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

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Table 6 Wald test results for parallel lines assumption using the .05 level of significance
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6.

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Selçuk, I.Ş., Köktaş, A.M. & Toygar, Ş.A. Socioeconomic factors affecting the probability of obesity: evidence from a nationwide survey in Turkey. Qual Quant 57, 239–255 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01362-4

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