New Regulation Dated November 12, 2025: Physiotherapists to Play a Key Role in Obesity Treatment

The new regulation, published and enacted by the Ministry of Health, aims to organize, classify, supervise, and standardize the quality of obesity treatment services. The Regulation on Obesity Units and Obesity Surgery Practice Units clearly defines the roles of healthcare personnel involved in both surgical and non-surgical obesity treatment.
The regulation envisions a multidisciplinary structure in obesity management. Within this framework, physiotherapists are included among the indispensable members of the treatment team, alongside dietitians, psychologists, nurses, and specialist physicians.

According to Article 9 of the regulation, obesity units are required to employ a “responsible physician, coordinator, dietitian, psychologist, physiotherapist, and nurse.” This provision clearly establishes that physiotherapists will take active roles not only in rehabilitation processes but also in the direct planning and implementation stages of obesity treatment.
Physiotherapists in obesity units will be responsible for preparing physical activity programs, providing exercise counseling, promoting musculoskeletal health, and guiding individuals in weight management processes within the unit’s education and activity rooms. In this context, obesity treatment is evolving into a holistic approach that integrates physical, psychological, and behavioral components rather than being viewed solely as a medical process.

The Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation at Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) is closely monitoring this new regulation published in the Official Gazette. Although no official implementation has yet begun under the new rules, these changes are expected to directly influence the future professional practices of physiotherapy students.
The regulation paves the way for students to focus more intensively on obesity management during their clinical internships, fieldwork, and research activities. Exercise prescription, lifestyle modification programs, and behavioral training methods are expected to take up a larger place in physiotherapy curricula in the near future.

Another notable aspect of the regulation is the mandatory coordination among different disciplines in obesity treatment. It aims to ensure collaboration among specialists in internal medicine, endocrinology, cardiology, mental health, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and general surgery. Within this structure, the expertise of physiotherapists in exercise science and rehabilitation will provide a significant contribution to improving treatment effectiveness.
Academics from IGU’s Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation emphasize that this development will enhance the visibility of the profession and strengthen the role of physiotherapists within healthcare services. They also highlight that exercise-based approaches to obesity treatment will increasingly be supported by scientific evidence.

The regulation also mandates that patient records be maintained electronically and that all processes be tracked through digital recording systems. This will allow data obtained from obesity treatment to be evaluated at both individual and societal health levels. In terms of personal data protection, data security, and service quality, this system is expected to set new standards for clinical physiotherapy practices as well.

This regulation, published in the Official Gazette No. 33075 on November 12, 2025, marks a comprehensive transformation in Turkey’s fight against obesity. Physiotherapists will now assume active responsibility not only during rehabilitation but throughout all stages of obesity treatment.
The new framework expands professional development opportunities for both current physiotherapists and future healthcare professionals, physiotherapy students. Istanbul Gelisim University’s Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation continues to closely follow these developments and prepare its students as competent individuals ready to meet the evolving needs of the healthcare field.