title: Socio-economic inequalities in overweight among adults in Turkey: a regional evaluation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patterns of socio-economic inequalities in obesity and overweight have not been documented for Turkey. The present study aimed to describe educational and wealth-related inequalities for overweight in Turkey, taking a regional perspective.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional self-reported data of the World Health Survey 2002 for Turkey were used. BMI ≥ 25·00 kg/m2 was considered as overweight. Respondents were classified according to education years and a wealth score derived from the availability of household assets. Logistic regression analysis was applied to assess the relationship between overweight and socio-economic factors. Analyses were stratified by sex and region (West, Mediterranean, Middle, Black Sea and East).
  
  
  METHODS
  Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among the respondents 20 years and older, 3790 women and 4057 men had data on self-reported height and weight.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age-adjusted overweight prevalence was 48·4 % for women and 46·1 % for men. For men, education was not systematically related to overweight while overweight was significantly increased among the highest wealth groups. For women, the prevalence of overweight was highest for low-educated and middle-wealth groups. The size of the inequalities in overweight showed only small regional variations. In the East, however, overweight prevalence was more related to higher socio-economic position than in the other regions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Socio-economic inequalities for overweight in Turkey are at a similar level as in most European countries, and especially comparable to Southern Europe. The smaller inequalities in the East correspond to the low level of socio-economic development in this part of the country. Prevention of overweight should focus on lower educational groups throughout the entire country and especially on low-educated women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Ege University, Bornova, 35100 Izmir, Turkey. isil.ergin@ege.edu.tr
authors.forename: Isil
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ergin
authors.forename: Hur
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hassoy
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kunst
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015995:Prevalence; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014421:Turkey