Survey on Prevalence of Cardiac Disease and its Risk Factors in Adults in Turkey: 6. Diabetes and Obesity

The prevalences of diabetes and obesity were studied in a random sample of 3687 persons aged 20 years and over who resided in 59 communities and represented the Turkish adult population. Subjects who reported to be diabetic, who revealed a fasting blood glucose value of ?130 mg/dl or a 2-hourpostprandial value exceeding 170 mg/dl were classified as diabetic. Among all adults 2.3 % reported diabetes in history (83 participants), and in the remainder diabetes was discovered in 1.6 %. When age standardization was performed for subjects having 35-64 years, the prevalence of diabetes was 6.3 % in women and 4.6 % in men. These rates are intermediate for men but fairly high for women in international comparison. Though no significant difference existed in the prevalences between overall urban and rural residents, diabetes was encountered more frequently among urban men (p<0.03). The median body mass index (BMI) among agestandardized population 35 to 64 years of age was 25.4 kg/m² in men and 27.7 kg/m² in women which reflects an appropriate relative weight in men, but one to be concerned in women. Obesity (defined as 30 kg/m² BMI in men, 29 kg/m² in women) was observed in 16 % of men and 47 % of women between the ages 40 and 59 years. This survey confirmed that obesity raised the prevalence of both diabetes and hypertension, in addition to its similar effects on serum cholesterol and triglycerides dealt with in a previous paper.