Community Project - 218K371

The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well- being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Many factors such as people's living conditions, health-related knowledge, health behaviors, beliefs and habits, occupations and income levels play a role as the "social determinants of health". The physical and social structure of the city also affects the lifestyle of the people in the city. Developing technology and changing lifestyle have caused health problems to shift towards non-communicable diseases.

In our country, according to the national burden of disease studies conducted in 2002 and 2012, the share of non-communicable diseases increased from 71% to 79%. Behavioral risk factors under non-communicable diseases are sedentary life, unhealthy diet, tobacco and alcohol use. The COVID-19 pandemic in the world in the last 2 years has caused us to adopt new lifestyle behaviors and it should be considered that these percentages will change.

According to the Basic Health Services (TSH) Declaration, the principles of the healthy cities approach to achieve the goal of “health for all” are as follows:

• “Health – is an innate human right.”,
• “Urban structure and human health should be considered as a whole.”,
• “It is necessary to develop clean water, healthy nutrition, shelter conditions and a safe living environment for the population living in cities “,
• “It is necessary to ensure the continuity of cultural and social activities to support social and mental well-being in cities.”,
• “Health literacy of citizens should be improved and their accessibility to health services should be supported.”,
• “It is necessary to develop a supportive environment for the citizens to acquire and support healthy behaviors.”,
• “A multi-sectoral approach needs to be structured on a city basis.” and
• “Participation of citizens in city life and services is important.”.

The population of Ankara province (2020) is approximately 5.5 million, with 73.4% of the population between the ages of 15-64 and 7.5% of them aged 65 and over. The city of Ankara has a population at risk for non-communicable diseases. Within the scope of the TÜBİTAK Project, we examine the relationship between the health problems of the society, physical activity behaviors and urban living spaces, using different research techniques in different districts of Ankara.