By Nilay Kar Onum
ISTANBUL
"I was unable to stand up for four years; I spent my many years in a single room... I did not want anyone to see me like that."
So says 19-year-old Emel Ayaf, who has made headlines in Turkey after being hospitalized when her weight reached an incredible 250 kilograms.
Emel, from Mardin in eastern Turkey, is just one of the thousands of people in the country who suffer from obesity. A 2010 Turkish Diabetes Epidemiology Study has claimed that, overall, 37 percent of Turkey's 74 million population is overweight and 32.8 percent is obese.
The young girl -- who harbors hopes of becoming a doctor -- was 20 kilos when she was only 12 months old.
Because of her overeating habit -- which doctors have linked to a possible hormonal imbalance -- Emel puts on weight rapidly.
"My father was cross with me and was saying: 'If you continue eating like this, your end will never be good in the future.'"
Despite her family’s pleas, she has struggled to control her compulsion. She put on so much weight in a short period of time that it reached 150 kilos when she was 15 years-old.
In the same year, Emel had to drop out of school as she could barely walk, abandoning her hopes of becoming a doctor.
"I was very ashamed. I thought that I was the only person who was obese and I totally lost any hopes of losing weight," she tells Anadolu Agency.
This year her condition deteriorated. She had even difficulty in taking a breath because of her weight. She was admitted to Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital in western Turkey around a month ago.
"She has recovered her morale as she lost some weight," says Gonul Duzgun, a nurse, who cares for her at the Izmir hospital. "Emel is a very young and easygoing patient. We believe she will recover soon," she adds.
Emel has lost eight kilos in 20 days at the hospital thanks to a diet regime. "I don’t want to eat much anymore now. I cannot finish all the dishes that are offered to me at the hospital," Emel -- who claims to love bread the most -- says.
According to her doctors, 'hormonal imbalances' may cause her obesity but the exact reason behind her situation is still being investigated.
"There are many factors behind obesity," says Dr. Koray Tekin, an Istanbul-based obesity surgeon. "Hormonal, psychological and genetic reasons are some of them but we, doctors still don't know what causes obesity exactly."
Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980, according to the World Health Organization. In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults aged 20 and older were overweight. Of these, over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese, it says.
However, it is not impossible to prevent or tackle obesity.
"Obesity is a disease which can be treated," says Tugrul Demirel, another Istanbul-based obesity surgeon.
"There are diet, sport and medicine options for obesity treatment but for a lasting treatment, surgery is the only remedy," he adds.
There are different kinds of surgical methods for obesity treatment. "Sleeve gastrectomy [an operational weight-loss method in which the stomach is reduced to about 25 percent of its original size] is the preferred method both by patients and doctors as its risks are fewer," Tekin claims.
Whether Emel undergoes an operation has not been decided yet, as she needs to lose some weight first before any procedure.
"She needs at least six months to recover," Izmir Provincial Health Director Mehmet Nil Hidir says.
It is a long road ahead for Emel but she is hopeful of her future as she trusts in her doctors.
"My biggest will is to be able to run again. When I recover, I will continue my education and study to be a doctor," she says.
The young girl also has a recommendation for overweight people like her: "They should never be ashamed of themselves and should see a doctor for treatment as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will be like me."
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