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National data on asthma characteristics and the factors associated with uncontrolled asthma seem to be necessary for every country. For this purpose, we developed the Turkish Adult Asthma Registry for patients with asthma aiming to take a snapshot of our patients, thereby assigning the unmet needs and niche areas of intervention. Case entries were performed between March 2018 and March 2022. A web-based application was used to record data. Study outcomes were demographic features, disease characteristics, asthma control levels, and phenotypes. The registry included 2053 patients from 36 study centers in Turkey. Female subjects dominated the group (n = 1535, 74.8%). The majority of the patients had allergic (n = 1158, 65.3%) and eosinophilic (n = 1174, 57.2%) asthma. Six hundred nineteen (32.2%) of the patients had obese asthma. Severe asthma existed in 670 (32.6%) patients. Majority of cases were on step 3–5 treatment (n: 1525; 88.1%). Uncontrolled asthma was associated with low educational level, severe asthma attacks in the last year, low FEV1, existence of chronic rhinosinusitis and living in particular regions. The picture of this registry showed a dominancy of middle-aged obese women with moderate-to-severe asthma. We also determined particular strategic targets such as low educational level, severe asthma attacks, low FEV1, and chronic rhinosinusitis to decrease uncontrolled asthma in our country. Moreover, some regional strategies may also be needed as uncontrolled asthma is higher in certain regions. We believe that these data will guide authorities to reestablish national asthma programs to improve asthma service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The nutrient composition of breast milk alters during lactation, and maternal BMI adds more intricacy into its complexity. We aimed to compare leptin, ghrelin, adiponectin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels of pre-feed and post-feed breast milk in mothers with obesity and normal weight, and tried to determine their effects on infants' growth over weight for length z-score. Twenty obese and twenty normal weight mothers with 2-month-old infants were enrolled in this case–control study. Five millilitre pre-feed breast milk and 5 ml post-feed breast milk were collected. Breast milk leptin, ghrelin, adiponectin and IGF-1 were measured by commercial kits. The pre-feed breast milk of mothers with obesity had significantly higher levels of ghrelin than mothers with normal weight (P = 0·025), whereas the post-feed breast milk of mothers with normal weight had higher levels of adiponectin than the mothers with obesity (P = 0·010). No significant differences were observed in leptin and IGF-1 levels between the two groups. Post-feed breast milk IGF-1 levels of mothers with obesity were correlated with infant's weight for length z-score at 2 months (r −0·476; P = 0·034). In linear regression models, parity affected the ghrelin in pre-feed breast milk (P = 0·025). Our results revealed that maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was associated with breast milk components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Obesity is a chronic disease that is conjoined with increased mortality. Parallel to rising obesity rates, herbal dietary interventions to lose weight are also increasing. The purpose of this study is to assess and evaluate the use of herbal dietary interventions for weight loss among regularly exercising women. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 545 regularly exercising women (aged 19–64 years) were recruited from several local sports centers. A questionnaire form to evaluate demographic characteristics, nutritional habits and herbal dietary intervention habits was administered by a trained dietitian. Anthropometric measurements including weight, height, fat mass, total body water and fat free mass were measured using a bioelectrical impedance analysis device. Findings: A total of 244 participants (44.8%) used herbal dietary interventions for weight loss within the last year. The most commonly used herbal dietary interventions were green tea (59.4%), lemon juice (27%), herbal tea mix (20.9%) and cinnamon powder (17.6%), respectively. Of the 244 women who used herbal dietary interventions for weight loss, 42.2% claimed that by using these products they experienced weight loss. Herbal dietary interventions were significantly higher among women with obesity (61.9%) than women with a healthy weight (37.5%). The use of herbal supplements increased among women who consider themselves as being overweight (p < 0.001). Furthermore, herbal dietary interventions decreased with more frequent attempts for a weight-loss diet (p < 0.001). Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study represents a first attempt at assessing the use of herbal dietary supplements for weight loss among regularly exercising Turkish women. With the increase of body mass index and body perception being as overweight, herbal dietary interventions were also increased. In particular, women with obesity (61.9%) used more herbal dietary interventions than women with healthy weight (37.5%). Moreover, women with an overweight body perception used more herbal supplements than those who thought they had a healthy body weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that poor sleep quality is significantly associated with obesity. The aim of this study is to examine the association of sleep quality with obesity and specific anthropometric measurements. A total of 105 women aged 20–55 years with no chronic diseases participated in this study. They filled out the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), their anthropometric measurements were taken, and their dietary data were collected with a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). There was no significant relationship between sleep quality and BMI, waist circumference, triceps skinfold thicknesses, body fat ratio (%), and body fat mass (p > .05), but high bread consumption was significantly associated with poor sleep quality (p < .05). The women with poor sleep quality consumed significantly more bread, but not other foods, than the women with good sleep quality. Sleep quality can thus be related to eating habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A large body of literature has revealed the association between vitamin D3-VDR complex and obesity. The aim of the present study was to survey the rate of the VDR polymorphisms in obese women and to determine whether there may be an association between VDR BsmI and Tru9I haplotypes and obesity in Iranian Azeri Turkish women. Material and methods: 65 Iranian Azeri Turkish women were enrolled in the study and PCR amplification and direct sequencing of PCR products were used for genotypings. Results: The findings of this study showed that VDR BsmIG allele, VDR BsmI G/G genotype, VDR BsmI A/A genotype, Tru9IA allele and Tru9I A/A genotype were more frequent in obese women compared to controls. The frequency of VDR BsmIG/Tru9IA (GA), VDR BsmIG/Tru9IG (GG), VDR BsmIA/Tru9IG (AG), and VDR BsmIA/Tru9IA (AA) haplotypes were 19.74%, 42.11%, 38.16% and 0% in cases, and 11.11%, 40.74%, 42.59 and 5.56% in controls. Statistically significant differences were found between cases and controls regarding the VDR AA haplotype (P=0.03). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that the VDR AA haplotype frequency was significantly lower in subjects with obesity compared with normal controls. This study shows that the VDR AA haplotype is significantly associated with a decreased risk of obesity in the tested group. This report is the first of its kind in the West Azerbaijani population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM: Obesity is one of the risk factors of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its prevalence is rapidly increasing in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of MetS and obesity among women aged 20 years and older. METHOD: This is a cross- sectional study, undergone in a primary health care setting in Bursa /Turkey in the year 2008. A total of 807 women were included in the study. Body weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure, total and HDL cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose and triglyceride levels were measured. Metabolic Syndrome definition was made according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. RESULTS: The mean age was 42.7±13.2 years, 96.4% were married, 50.7% had education of less than 8 years, 93.7% were housewives and 85.3% had a monthly family income of $650 or less. The prevalence of MetS and abdominal obesity were 17.5% and 87.7% respectively. Those with diabetes mellitus and elevated plasma lipids had increased risk of developing MetS 11.3 and 4.5 times more than those without these situations respectively. The risk of MetS increases with age and increasing BMI. CONCLUSION: In conclusion it can be stated that obesity and central obesity are alarmingly frequent among the adult Turkish women who participated in our study. Despite the high prevalence of elevated waist circumference and body mass index the low prevalence of MetS could not be explained. The low levels of triglycerides and high levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol should be studied further. Because of its cross-sectional and single center oriented design the results of this study should not be generalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study was to test the theory of planned behavior in predicting women’s intention about weight gain prevention. Methodology: A correlation study design with multiple regression and path analysis was used. The sample of the study was 270 healthy women between the ages of 21-45 who were married, and able to respond to a questionnaire. The participants were recruited from regions of four primary health care centers in Malatya, Turkey. The women were visited, interviewed and the questionnaire was filled in their homes. The data of the study were analysed through frequency distribution, multiple regression, path and correlation analyses. Results: Path analysis confirmed the direct and indirect relationships of the theory of planned behaviour in predicting women’s intention about weight gain prevention. Regression analysis computed the model path coefficients ranging from ß .612 to .940. Overall, the Theory of Planned Behaviour explained 77.48% of the variance. Conclusions: A woman’s attitude towards weight gain prevention and referent motivation needs further explanation prior to the development of women’s intention about weight gain prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of differing therapies on maximal static respiratory pressure in 51 obese women divided into three groups: i) sedentary women (n = 19, aged 57.37 ± 8.10 years, BMI = 38.3± 5.9); ii) physically active women (n = 13, aged 60.31 ± 8.94 years, BMI = 38.0 ± 7.7) submitted to seven days of therapy through incentive spirometry, and iii) women in pulmonary rehabilitation (n = 20, aged 48.75 ± 13.71 years, BMI = 34.7±3.8) submitted to a 12-week program of aerobic physical activity at 70% heart rate reserve, and breathing and stretching exercises. Data were treated using a one way ANOVA with post-hoc Turkey, within groups with paired t test and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results showed a significant post-therapy (p < .05) for the maximal static respiratory pressure between and within group with significant changes on obese women's maximal static respiratory pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the relation between body mass index (BMI) value during labor and pregnancy outcomes in a group of Turkish population. The data on 9,112 singleton pregnancies were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were classified into three groups according to their BMI values: normal (BMI 20–25 kg/m2, n = 5,685, 62.4%), overweight (BMI 20–25 kg/m2, n = 2,214, 24.3%) and obese (BMI >30 kg/m2, n = 1,213, 33.3%). Gestational diabetes mellitus ( P = 0.000), risk of delivering a baby >90th percentile ( P = 0.000) and preeclampsia ( P = 0.000) were increased in parallel with increased BMI. A statically significant difference was observed between the normal and obese groups in terms of the abdominal cesarean rates ( P = 0.020). However, a significant difference was not observed in terms of preterm delivery ( P = 0.846), birthweight <10th percentile ( P = 0.484), placenta previa ( P = 0.880), ablatio placenta ( P = 0.499) and intrauterine death ( P = 0.175) between the groups. Regardless of the gestation, BMI is a factor that affects the fetal and maternal outcomes. The obese and overweight women should be followed up carefully during the labor and delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among dieting, dietary restraint, disinhibition, hunger, and binge eating among overweight adolescent girls. Participants were 743 overweight adolescent girls between 16 and 19 years of age. The mean BMI was 24.9±0.8 kg/m² in the low-restraint group and 25.1 ±0.8 kg/m² in the high-restraint group (p < 0.05). Twenty percent of participants in the low-restraint group and 72% of those in the highrestraint group followed weight management practices for losing weight. The mean total TFEQ score was 21.5±7.8 for chronic dieters and 25.5±8.7 for nonchronic dieters. Chronic dieter participants had significantly lower scores than non-chronic dieters (p < 0.05). Findings indicate that overweight adolescents (dieting 5-10 times or more than 10 times in the past year) reported higher disinhibition and hunger scores than others (no dieting in the past year). Also, adolescents with BED reported significantly higher scores of disinhibition and hunger than did adolescents with non-BED. Conversely, overweight adolescents with BED showed significantly higher cognitive restraint scores than did adolescents with non-BED. In sum, high scores on restraint, hunger, and disinhibition of overweight adolescent girls as measured by the TFEQ, are associated with low self-esteem, high social physique anxiety, and high trait anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]