Half of Dutch adults still overweight

Half of the adults in the Netherlands were overweight last year - the same as when the National Prevention Agreement was introduced in 2018. Statistics Netherlands said this in its 2021 Health Survey/Lifestyle Monitor, drafted in collaboration with the RIVM, the Trimbos Institute, and the Pharos expertise center. The Agreement aimed to fight unhealthy weight with exercise and healthy eating, among other things. 

With the Prevention Agreement, the government and 70 social organizations want to achieve that people have a healthy weight and that they more often say no to cigarettes and alcohol. The Agreement aims to reduce smoking and problematic alcohol use among adults to 5 percent by 2040, overweight to 38 percent, and severe obesity to 7.1 percent.

In 2021, however, the number of overweight adults was still 50 percent, and 14 percent were obese. The proportion of smokers fell slightly, from 22 percent in 2018 to 21 percent last year. People also drank a little less - 7 percent of adults drank alcohol excessively, marginally less than in 2018 and 2019. The percentage of heavy drinkers (8 percent) remained the same.

A person is overweight when their Body Mass Index (BMI) is 25 or higher and obese with a BMI of 30 or more. The BMI measures the ratio between your weight and your height. Excessive drinkers are women who consume more than 14 alcoholic drinks a week and men who consume more than 21. Heavy drinkers are men who consume more than six glasses of alcohol in a day at least once a week, and women who drink or more glasses of alcohol a day at least once a week,

Obesity and smoking are more common among people with lower incomes and a lower education level.