Prevalence of obesity and risk of chronic diseases in the elderly: The case of Turkey

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Obesity is a major factor in the development of chronic diseases and can be influenced by some unobserved factors as well as genetic predisposition. Since obese older people are more likely to develop chronic diseases, a better understanding of the relationship between overweight/obesity and chronic diseases may help to reduce unnecessary morbidity and mortality. Using a Seemingly Unrelated probit approach for unobserved heterogeneity and probable endogeneity, this study investigates the empirical connection between obesity and chronic diseases in the elderly. Data from the Turkish Health Survey collected by the Turkish Statistical Institute in 2014, 2016, and 2019 were used for the analysis. The empirical results indicate that there are unmeasurable common factors that influence both overweight/obesity and chronic diseases, with overweight/obesity being an important determinant of chronic diseases along with some socioeconomic factors such as gender, physical inactivity, smoking, age, depression, etc. The findings suggest that health policies to reduce preventable morbidity and mortality should take into account unmeasurable genetic factors as well as psychological support to activate sedentary lifestyles in older people and prevent depression and feelings of worthlessness.