In 2022, Turkey encountered the formidable task of addressing an unprecedented loss of medical doctors and seeking remedies for potential issues within the healthcare system. This study set out to explore the inclination of 402 actively practicing Turkish doctors to depart from Turkey, assess the socio-demographic and socio-economic factors influencing this trend, and establish the hierarchy of raised concerns among doctors. Employing a cross-sectional and analytical approach, the study drew comparisons between doctors' demographic characteristics and the significance of their grievances, while also examining the correlation between the importance of complaints and the desire to remain in Turkey. The doctors' primary complaints encompassed financial challenges, instances of violence in the healthcare sector, and insufficient examination durations. The migration of doctors poses a substantial risk to healthcare accessibility, public health, and the sustainability of Turkey's healthcare delivery capacity. To mitigate this risk and curb doctor migration, corrective measures must be implemented to improve working conditions. Additionally, there is a need for further scientific research focusing on doctors' concerns, particularly in developing countries like Turkey, to expand the current body of literature on this subject.

Background: Food insecurity is a growing global issue driven by income inequality, food price fluctuations, and unequal access to essential resources. However, the interrelations among income distribution, real income, food prices, food insecurity, and health expenditure are not well understood, especially in terms of indirect and mediated effects. Materials and methods: We used a longitudinal dataset to build vector autoregression models and applied the Toda–Yamamoto causality approach to examine direct and mediated pathways. The augmented Dickey–Fuller test assessed stationarity, and optimal lag lengths were selected using the Akaike information criterion. We used the K-means algorithm for income group classification and the Wald test for comparing findings across groups, based on data from 99 countries. Structural stability was tested using CUSUM test for parameter stability and CUSUMSQ test for variance stability of recursive residuals and Bai–Perron for multiple breakpoints. Results: Income distribution and real income directly influenced food prices. In turn, food prices significantly impacted both food insecurity and health expenditure. In high-income countries, food insecurity was found to play a partial mediating role in the relationship between food prices and health expenditure. Importantly, in the global sample, income inequality mediated the relationship between food prices and food insecurity. The joint analysis of all variables revealed causal pathways that were not evident in isolated models. Conclusion: These findings highlight the critical role of income inequality in worsening food insecurity and increasing health burdens. The observed mediation mechanisms also suggest that targeted, income group–specific interventions are needed to effectively mitigate the compounded impacts of food inflation on health systems. Addressing economic disparities, stabilizing food prices, and enhancing welfare systems could reduce both food-related and healthcare challenges. Future research should explore regional patterns and broader socioeconomic indicators to support sustainable policy design.

Background: This study examined the effects of psychosocial and ergonomic risk perceptions in the hospital environment on employee health, job performance, and absenteeism. In fast-paced hospital settings, the cumulative physical and psychological demands of patient care, exacerbated by poor ergonomic conditions, can jeopardize employee well-being and compromise service quality. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare professionals in Istanbul using a multimethod approach with a quantitative emphasis. To analyze the interrelationships among these variables while controlling for demographic factors, including age and sex, structural equation modeling was employed. Results: The findings indicated that both psychological safety and favorable ergonomic conditions significantly enhanced job satisfaction, which in turn positively influenced mental health and overall job performance. Moreover, better physical health was associated with reduced absenteeism, further contributing to improved job performance. These results highlight the significance of developing supportive and ergonomically sound work environments for enhancing employee well-being, reducing absenteeism, and optimizing performance in hospital settings. Conclusions: This study offers valuable insights for hospital administrators and policymakers seeking to implement effective interventions that address psychosocial and ergonomic challenges, thereby ensuring higher quality healthcare services.

Food loss and waste (FLW) threaten progress toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12.3, yet their distribution by development stage remains under-quantified. We created a time-weighted K-means typology for 105 countries (2000–2022) using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, GDP growth, and per-capita health expenditure—indicators chosen to capture economic capacity, growth momentum, and institutional investment. The scheme classified nations as developed (n = 13), developing (n = 92), or hybrid, with > 98% membership stability across weighting parameters. Linking this typology with FAO’s FLW data, we modelled food loss percentages (FLP) across ten commodity groups and eight supply-chain stages using multilevel mixed-effects regression. Developed countries lost the most food at consumption (22.5%), dwarfing developing (6.8%) and hybrid cases (9.0–14.2%), whereas developing nations suffered greater upstream losses at harvest/on-farm (3.7%). FLP in developing economies was significantly lower for grains (β = − 8.02, p = 0.007), oilseeds (β = − 19.29, p = 0.016) and pulses (β = − 5.43, p = 0.021). From 2000 to 2022, oilseed and sugar losses rose (β = 0.26, p < 0.001), while roots/tubers and dairy/eggs declined (β = − 0.31, − 0.89; p < 0.01). Stage analyses revealed pronounced development gaps at consumption (β = − 16.06, p < 0.001) and processing (β = − 5.58, p = 0.014), alongside a rising trend in marketing/retail losses (β = 0.25, p = 0.005). Country-level random effects explained up to 90% of variance, underscoring the dominance of local conditions. The evidence supports consumer-behaviour interventions in high-income settings, upstream infrastructure investment in developing regions, and dual-track strategies in hybrids. Our typology provides a scalable, policy-ready lens for designing targeted FLW actions aligned with SDG 12.3.

Background/Objectives: This study examines the transformation of Turkey’s hospital sector from 2002 to 2022, focusing on physical capacity, service utilization, and workforce distribution in the public and private sectors. Methods: Longitudinal data from the Ministry of Health were analyzed using trend and breakpoint methods to evaluate hospital beds, qualified beds, intensive care beds, service volumes (outpatient visits, inpatient admissions, surgeries, and hospitalization days), and staffing (physicians, nurses, and midwives). Results: Findings reveal a marked shift in the balance between public and private providers. Due to public regulations effectively controlling resource allocation, the private sector’s share expanded to around one-fourth of the system. Private capacity in total beds rose from 7.53% to 21.00%, outpatient visits from 4.58% to 15.07%, and inpatient admissions from 10.10% to 30.63%. Breakpoint analyses indicate crucial turning points around 2005, 2008, and 2011, when policy changes restricted public capacity but facilitated private investment. Although the public sector’s share in total beds declined, its proportion of qualified and intensive care beds, as well as dialysis machines, increased, suggesting a strategic shift toward complex, high-quality services. Conclusions: Over the past 20 years, Turkey’s hospital sector exemplifies privatization without ownership transfer. Although delayed, private hospital expansion aligned with global neoliberal trends. Policy regulations played a key role in both promoting and limiting sector growth. A constant conflict exists between market-driven resource allocation and public health needs, which must be considered in restructuring efforts alongside private sector motivations.

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between Mediterranean diet adherence and adaptive eating behaviors, specifically intuitive eating and mindful eating, among Turkish young adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 2293 young adults aged 18–34 years who completed an online survey between December 2023 and March 2024. Data were collected using the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Scale (MEDAS), Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2), and Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ-30). One-way ANOVA compared eating behavior scores across adherence groups. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses examined the unique contribution of MEDAS scores after controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, health, lifestyle, and nutritional factors. Results: Among the participants, 64.5% demonstrated low, 27.0% moderate, and 8.4% high Mediterranean diet adherence. ANOVA revealed significant differences in both IES-2 and MEQ-30 scores across groups. In hierarchical regression, MEDAS significantly predicted intuitive eating (B = 0.023, p = 0.004, contributing 10.72% to explained variance) and mindful eating (B = 0.776, p = 0.001, contributing 13.61%) after controlling for all covariates. BMI emerged as the strongest predictor for both outcomes, with divergent associations: negative for intuitive eating and positive for mindful eating. Final models explained 5.8% and 6.2% of variance in IES-2 and MEQ-30, respectively. Conclusions: Mediterranean diet adherence demonstrated significant positive associations with both intuitive and mindful eating behaviors, independent of multiple confounders. Although effect sizes were modest, these findings suggest that promoting Mediterranean dietary patterns may complement interventions aimed at fostering adaptive eating behaviors. The divergent BMI associations warrant further investigation.