Weight change and associated factors in Atatürk University Faculty of Medicine employees

Introduction: Overweight and obesity is a major public health problem in Turkey like all over the world. It is estimated that 37% of adults is overweight, and 32% of adults is obese in Turkey. There are many factors that affect weight change. We aimed to investigate the factors that can affect weight change in cohort of a university hospital employees.Methods: 229 employees who work at Ataturk University Faculty of Medicine were enrolled to study between April-2015 and January-2016. Subjects' socio-demographic data, sleep and eating patterns, and physical activity levels and 24-hour food consumption information and anthropometric measurements were taken three times (0, 3, 6 months) for 6 months.Results: The mean age of participants was 31.6±9.6 years. 52% of the participants were married, 55.5% were university graduates and 16.6% were doctors. 10.9% of participants were obese, 28.8% of them were overweight and 51.5% of participants remained in the same weight. The average 0.2±2 kg was gained, and BMI increased from 24.3 kg/m² to 24.5 kg/m² and total body fat percentage increased from 23.1% to 23.6%. It was observed that 15.3% of consumed daily calories was protein, 41.3% was lipid and 43.5% was carbohydrates of individuals who lose weight. Participants who gained weight consumed more three food items more than participants who lost weight (p lt;0.05). It was observed that individuals who have regularly physical exercise lost weight a mean of 0.3 kg, and waist circumference was reduced a mean of 2.3 cm. At the end of the 6 month follow-up period, individuals with normal weight received an average of 0,4±1,8 kg; while obese individuals lost 0.2±1.8 kg (p­­­=0,09). The average sleep duration was higher for those who lost weight on six-month follow-up than for the subjects who gained weight (8±1.9 hours and 7.2±1.9 hours, respectively; p lt;0.05). Conclusion: There was a relationship between sleep duration and nutrient intake with weight change in this study. However, there was no relationship between gender, marital status, smoking status, eating habit, physical activity status, sporting status, daily calorie intake, calorie intake, and weight change in 6 month follow-up. Further long-term trials should be based upon factors that may affect weight loss and weight gain