Promotion of Active Life Project

In Turkey, chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and burden of disease. Studies show that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing in our country as well as in the world and that obesity has started to affect especially our children and young people. The prevalence of obesity in children aged 0-5 years was found to be 8.5% and overweight 17.9%. The prevalence of obesity is 30.3% and the prevalence of mild obesity is 34.6% in all adults aged 19 years and over in Turkey. The main goal of national health policies is to achieve a healthy society consisting of healthy individuals. In this context, the Ministry of Health launched the "Turkey Healthy Nutrition and Active Life Program" in 2010.

In the scope of the movement to control and prevent obesity, increasing the physical activity levels of citizens is an important success parameter. Studies show that on average 3.2 million people lose their lives every year due to physical inactivity. This shows that physical inactivity takes almost as many lives each year as traffic accidents. In Turkey, 72% of the population is physically inactive, while regular exercisers make up only 3.5% of the total population.

With the current situation, it will be possible to achieve success in the fight against obesity within the scope of non-communicable chronic diseases only as a result of joint, coordinated and determined efforts of all stakeholders related to this issue. With the awareness of the responsibility of non-governmental organizations within the scope of national health policies in this struggle, the Promoting Active Life Project was initiated with the protocol signed between the Health Promotion Health Policy Association, the Ministry of Health and Yıldırım Beyazıt University on November 14, 2013. The Promoting Active Life Project aims to reduce physical inactivity in Turkey by raising awareness of the importance of physical activity among two important target groups (family physicians and teachers) who are in one-to-one contact with the public.

One of the most effective ways to promote physical activity in Turkey is through the family medicine system. Each of 77 million citizens is registered with a family physician. Reducing the prevalence of obesity within the scope of preventive medicine is within the areas of responsibility of family physicians. For this reason, the Active Life Promotion Project is important in terms of raising the awareness of family physicians on the importance of physical activity and its role in the prevention of diseases, and their direct and effective touch on the society.

In Turkey, 12 years of primary and secondary education before university is compulsory for every citizen. For this reason, another important group that is in active contact with the whole society, especially at an early age, is teachers. Increasing the level of awareness of all teachers, primarily physical education teachers, at the level of the Ministry of National Education will be an important step in raising the awareness of our children and their families about obesity and non-communicable diseases in the short term, and in the medium and long term, in making the society more physically active.

The Promotion of Active Life Project has been strategically prepared and implemented in parallel with the "Turkey Healthy Nutrition and Active Life Program" launched by the Turkish Ministry of Health in 2010 and updated in 2013 for 2014-2017.

In Turkey as well, chronic diseases rank first in terms of causes of death and disease burden. Studies show that, as in the rest of the world, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is steadily increasing in our country and that obesity has begun to affect particularly our children and young people. In children aged 0-5, the prevalence of obesity was found to be 8.5% and overweight 17.9%. Across Turkey, among all adults aged 19 and over, the prevalence of obesity is 30.3% and the prevalence of overweight is 34.6%. The main objective of national health policy is to achieve a healthy society composed of healthy individuals. In this context, the T.C. Ministry of Health launched the “Turkey Healthy Nutrition and Active Life Program” in 2010.

Within the movement to control and prevent obesity, increasing the physical activity levels of citizens is an important parameter of success. Studies show that an average of 3.2 million people lose their lives each year due to physical inactivity. This indicates that physical inactivity claims almost as many lives each year as traffic accidents. While people who exercise regularly in Turkey constitute only 3.5% of the total population, 72% of the population is physically inactive.

Given the current course of events, success in combating obesity within the scope of non-communicable chronic diseases will only be possible through the joint, coordinated and determined efforts of all stakeholders concerned with this issue. With an awareness of the responsibility that also falls upon non-governmental organizations within the framework of national health policy in this effort, the Active Life Promotion project was initiated with the protocol signed on 14 November 2013 between the Health Promotion and Health Policy Association, the T.C. Ministry of Health and Yıldırım Beyazıt University. The Active Life Promotion Project aims to reduce physical inactivity in society by raising the awareness of two important target groups in direct contact with the public in Turkey (family physicians and teachers) regarding the importance of physical activity.

One of the most effective ways to promote physical activity in Turkey is the family medicine system. Each of the 77 million citizens is registered with a family physician. Reducing the prevalence of obesity within the scope of preventive medicine falls within the areas of responsibility of family physicians. For this reason, the Active Life Promotion project is significant in terms of raising the awareness of family physicians about the importance of physical activity and its role in preventing diseases, as well as their direct and effective contact with the public.

In Turkey, every citizen is required to receive 12 years of primary and secondary education before university. Therefore, another important group in effective contact with the entire population, particularly at young ages, is teachers. Raising the level of awareness about physical activity and its importance among all teachers at the level of the Ministry of National Education, primarily physical education teachers, will be an important step in raising awareness among our children and their families about obesity and non-communicable diseases in the short term, and in making society more physically active in the medium and long term.

The Active Life Promotion Project has been prepared and is being implemented in strategic parallel with the “Turkey Healthy Nutrition and Active Life Program”, which was launched by the T.C. Ministry of Health in 2010 and updated in 2013 for the years 2014-2017.