Ministry to battle obesity with a film

ISTANBUL

Health Ministry worker Demet Dedeoğlu shows her photo before she lost 47 kilos 20 months ago. She is now 70 kilos and has a goal to reach 65 kilos. Hürriyet photo

To fight against rising obesity rates in Turkey, the Turkish Ministry of Health is prepared to screen a film on television that details the weight loss journey of ministry janitor, Demet Dedeoğlu, who lost 47 kilograms in 20 months to drop from 117 kilos to 70 kilos. Dedeoğlu has become the face of the ministry’s ‘Fighting Obesity Campaign,’ daily Hürriyet reported yesterday.

The determination of Dedeoğlu in her fight to lose weight and regain her health is shown in a short film made by the ministry titled “Demet.” The ministry hopes 30-year-old Dedeoğlu, who said she had been overweight since childhood, will be an inspiration for people who need or want to lose weight.

‘Overweight seen as fate’

“If you gain weight all of sudden, you cannot tolerate it. But if you are a big person even when you are born, you see being overweight as your fate. I was always the victim of ‘potato’ jokes. I wanted to lose weight when I was a child. I knew how to do it just like all obese people do, but I could not put it into practice,” Dedeoğlu said.

Dedeoğlu said being overweight led to increased health problems. “When I was sick I used to go to five different doctors and the reply was always the same: ‘lose weight.’ I was dealing with all the problems of obesity; diabetes, high blood pressure, polycystic ovaries, hormonal problems. I had all of these. I was taking a bag of drugs when I was 30. But I am a mother and have responsibility to my child. This is why I have decided to lose weight,” Dedeoğlu said.

She lost 47 kilos

The ministry worker said she lost 47 kilos through carefully monitoring what she ate and increasing the amount of physical activity she did daily. Dedeoğlu said that while she could not afford a membership to a sports center she began walking to work everyday. “I ate everything in small portions and lost 47 kilos in 20 months. Now I am 70 kilos and 1.71 meters tall. My goal is to reach 65 kilos.”

Heath Minister Recep Akdağ, who has held a meeting to promote the campaign, said that Dedeoğlu’s story could be a model for everyone. “Her story will be broadcast on television as the film of the Health Ministry,” he said.