Obesity from a health management perspective: A holistic view from epidemiology to policy

Abstract

Objectives: This systematic review aims to synthesize international and national literature on obesity through a health management and governance lens, reframing obesity from an individual behavioral issue into a complex, system-level health system challenge.

Materials and methods: This study is a systematic review conducted between June 2026 and July 2026 and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews.

Results: Searches of Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed, with national sources, were screened against predefined criteria; 75 sources were charted. Prevalence is rising across age and income levels, the obesogenic environment and inequalities shape its distribution, and direct and indirect costs burden budgets.

Conclusion: The review indicates that obesity care should be redesigned as an integrated service chain around the chronic care model, that policy mixes combining fiscal measures with labeling and school-based interventions should be adopted, that digital tools should complement rather than replace care, and that weight stigma should be addressed as a structural barrier. For Türkiye, an agenda converting the epidemiological base into evaluated policy follows.

Cite this article as: Temizer AM, Yiğit AÇ. Obesity from a health management perspective: A holistic view from epidemiology to policy. D J Med Sci 2026;12(2):117-130. doi: 10.5606/fng.btd.2026.250.

A.M.T., A.Ç.Y.: Idea/concept, design; A.M.T.: Data collection and/or processing, literature review, writing the article, references; A.Ç.Y.: Control/supervision, critical review. All authors read and approved the final version of the article.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Data Sharing Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.

AI Disclosure
The authors declare that artificial intelligence (AI) tools were not used, or were used solely for language editing, and had no role in data analysis, interpretation, or the formulation of conclusions. All scientific content, data interpretation, and conclusions are the sole responsibility of the authors. The authors further confirm that AI tools were not used to generate, fabricate, or ‘hallucinate’ references, and that all references have been carefully verified for accuracy.