Is environment destiny? Spatial analysis of the relationship between geographic factors and obesity in Türkiye

ABSTRACT

This study aims to evaluate the relationship of geographical factors, including precipitation, slope, air pollution and elevation with adult obesity prevalence in Türkiye (TR) using a cross-regional study design. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) were performed to evaluate the spatial variation in the relationship between all geographic factors and obesity prevalence. In the model, a positive relationship was found between obesity prevalence and slope, whereas a negative significant relationship was determined between obesity prevalence and elevation (p < 0.05). These results, revealing spatially varying associations, were very useful in refining the interpretations of the statistical results on adult obesity. This research suggests that geographical factors should be considered as one of the components of the obesogenic environment. In addition, it is recommended that national and international strategies to overcome obesity should be restructured by taking into account the geographical characteristics of the region.

KEYWORDS:

• Obesity
• ordinary least square
• geographically weighted regression
• obesogenic environment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

The study’s planning and conception involved collaboration from all of the writers. HÖY and MAG handled the material preparation, visualization, data gathering, and analyses. The final manuscript was read by each author before it was approved.

Data availability statement

The materials listed in the references can be used to acquire data. The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethics approval

The study design did not require ethics committee approval.

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2023.2248016

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.