In a surprising attempt to combat the nation’s rising rate of obesity, Turkey has initiated a nationwide campaign that includes weighing citizens in open spaces, an action that has drawn criticism and debate nationwide. Health workers have been deployed since May 10 in crowded public places, including shopping malls, bus stations, parks, and even near football stadiums. Their mission? To take the height and weight of almost 10 million citizens by July 10 and determine their Body Mass Index (BMI). The program is being implemented in all 81 provinces and is a component of a broader government strategy to get people with a BMI of 25 and above to lose weight.
Turkey Installs Fat Checkpoints In Public Spaces
The Turkish Ministry of Health has labelled the campaign – Know Your Weight, Live Healthy and is referring those who are in the overweight or obese ranges to state-run health centres to receive free dietary counselling and follow-up. Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu came to the defence of the program during a recent address at a nursing conference, cautioning that obesity is a serious health issue for the nation. He emphasised that too much weight now will become chronic conditions, such as joint issues and heart disease later. In a touch of irony, Memişoğlu was also publicly weighed during a campaign visit to Ankara and was informed that he was over the healthy weight limit. He later joked that he needed to visit a dietitian and vowed to begin walking daily.
Not everyone is amused. The campaign has prompted a tide of public criticism, with people condemning it as shaming, intrusive, and insensitive. Psychiatrist and professor Gökben Hızlı Sayar, for example, posted on social media how she was intercepted at an Istanbul public square for an unexpected weigh-in. She likened the experience to humiliating and cautioned others going in her direction, humorously calling it a fat checkpoint.
In reaction to increasing denunciation, Memişoğlu admitted to the jokes on the internet but maintained the government is not taking the matter lightly. He called on the youth to take weight issues seriously. However, a majority of the citizens have countered that emphasis on public weigh-ins overlooks the larger issue. Critics cite increasing prices of food, stagnant salaries, and scarcity of affordable health options as the actual barriers to improved nutrition.
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Information from the World Health Organisation in 2023 indicated that almost 30% of the population of Turkey can be categorized as obese. However, experts are concerned about using BMI to judge only one’s health, and obesity researchers contend that though it is helpful in monitoring national trends, it may be deceptive at an individual level, especially for athletes or individuals with a high muscle mass.
Medical experts propose a more subtle method, where obesity diagnoses take into consideration other measures such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and conditions such as diabetes, not simply a quantity on a scale.
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