CYPRUS TURKISH DIABETES ASSOCIATION (CTDA)

Our Vision: Cyprus Turkish Diabetes Association is the leading charity working for people with diabetes. We fund diabetes surveys, campaign and help people to live with the condition.

Our Mission: The primary objective of the association to improve the quality of life of people with diabetes and their families and to work towards a future without diabetes.

To achieve this important mission, the efforts of the associations have focused on:

Goals:

• Improving quality care and services;

• Promoting education of both people with diabetes and healthcare professionals

• Promoting self- management and empowerment

• Encouraging prevention and early diagnosis of diabetes.

• Raising awareness on diabetes and its complications

• Providing assistance and protection and defending the rights of people with     diabetes

• Establishing national diabetes programmes

• Influencing healthcare policies.

• Funding diabetes and obesity surveys.

Our Values: Cooperation, Trust, Community building, Effectiveness, Fairness

Number of registered members: 2460

OUR ACTIVITIES

Diabetes awareness campaigns: Encouraging prevention and early diagnosis of diabetes.*

• Celebrating 14 November World Diabetes Days for  raising awareness on diabetes and its complications

• Participating in the  media events.

• Organising meetings at the cofee shops and at the sport clubs in the rural areas to meet people, informing the society about diabetes and patient rights.

• Producing posters and leaflets for public information.

Empowering people with diabetes and their families:

• Organising Diabetes Camps for children with diabetes and for the adults with diabetes.

• Organising workshops to provide  interactive health education for the families.

• Organising panels, symposiums..

Advocating people with diabetes:

• Meeting with the decision-policy makers influencing healthcare policies.

• Designing national diabetes programmes.

• Fighting for gaining more patient rights to increase the quality of life of people with diabetes.

Participating in the scientific diabetes congresses locally and internationally.

Fundraising activities: Selling raffles tickets, organising parties and events etc...

Publishing: “Diabet” gazette is free of charge for our members. Publishes 2500, quarterly in a year. 

Diabetes in The Northern Cyprus

Compared to other Eastern Mediterranean countries, particularly to Turkey, this study have indicated that diabetes is a common health problem in Northern Cyprus. According to a survey done  in 1996, by the Ministry of Health ,University of İstanbul, Faculty of Medicine, diabetes prevalence  in the Northern Cypus is 11,3% in the adult population. Also, impaired glucose tolerance ( IGT) is 13,5%  ( 16,1% females, 9,2% males ) in the adult population.

The prevalence of known diabetes was 7,3%, additionally one third of the diabetics was unaware of their disease (4%)

34% of the adult population is obese and also have diabetes.

The finding of higher prevalence rate of both DGT and IGT will certainly have an implication in establishing a national diabetes program in order to improve the quality of diabetes care in this country.

OBESITY REPORT OF THE TURKISH CYPRIOT DIABETES ASSOCIATION

 MARCH 2005

Research by

KADEM

(Cyprus Social Research and Consultant)

AIM OF THE RESEARCH

This research is aimed at finding out the present situation in North Cyprus about child obesity. For this purpose the following items were researched over the target population:

(i)                 Physical state

·         Body mass index (BMI)

·         weight

·         height weight ratio

·         waist circumference measurement

·         hip circumference measurement

(ii)               Dietary Habits

·         Vegetable consumption habits

·         Fruit consumption habits

·         Fast food consumption habits

·         Diary products consumption habits

(iii)             Socioeconomic State

·         Income level

·         Education level

·         Family structure

·         Career

·         Social activities

·         Entertainment habits

(iv)             Family history

§     Diabetical

§    Overweight

§     Hypertension

§    Other abnormalities

 SAMPLING OF RESEARCH

• A representative group of 876 persons between the ages 7-17 were used
• In deciding the sample group, the population in certain age groups, distribution of the population according to the districts and regions (small, medium sized and large settlements) were taken into consideration. At the field level, gender and age quotas were used.
• The parental sample group was comprised of the parents of the chosen sample children/youth group.
• In choosing particular houses, population distribution according to the districts and regions were taken into account. In each targeted house, height and weight of the chosen person and his/her parents were taken.
• The BMI values, based on height and weight measurements were according to the gender and age sensitive scale developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

7. OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY PERCENTAGES

v     The research showed that 11.7% (95% percentile) of the 7-17 age group is obese and 16.1% is pre-obese (overweight). The obese percentages with age groupings were as follows:

v     The following table compares the obesity  and overweight percentages in North Cyprus with some other countries :

v     13.5% of the girls and 10% of the boys in North Cyprus are obese. The highest obesity rate is in Kyrenia (17.4%) and the lowest is in Iskele district (7.7%)

v     The highest rate of obese children is those of the civil servants (18%). Farmer families have a rate of 6.5%.

v     The obesity rate, in parallel to the results of other countries, falls noticeably among children who watch TV less than 1 hour daily (8.6%). The rate for the children who spend more than 1 hour per day in front of TV goes up to 13%.

v     As part of the research, the obesity level of the parents was also studied and found to be 17.2%. Overweight ratio was 36.3%. Fathers (18.7%) and mothers (16.3%) are similar in obesity level while 52.4% of the mothers are overweight against 36.2% of fathers.

v     The obesity level among the parents is inversely proportional to the education level. Obesity percentages go up as the education level goes down. The obesity percentage is 27% among the mothers who cannot read and write or who are elementary school graduates. This falls to 6% for the university graduates. Similarly, 14% of the university graduated fathers are obese while this ratio is 25% for the illiterate fathers.

v     Comparing  the percentage of obese and overweight adults in TRNC, it was found that the level in North Cyprus was below those of USA, Germany, UK, Spain, Portugal, South Cyprus and Turkey and above those of Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Italy and France.

v     The results indicate that there is a strong correlation between the level of obese and overweight children with that of the obese and overweight parents. The obesity level for children with normal or below normal weight parents is 2%. This is 3.9% for overweight parents.

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER

Correspondence Address: P.O. Box 497, Nicosia, North Cyprus.

       Tel:0392 223 6115   Fax:0392 223 6135   Mobile:0533 861 6222

www.ktdiabet.org

 info@ktdiabet.org  , ktdiabet@superonline.com

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