Doctors call on government to do more against childhood obesity

The government is doing too little to combat overweight and obesity in children, health organizations and doctors complain. They believe it is too easy for young people to get hold of unhealthy food and are therefore calling for action.

In an urgent letter, the doctors and organizations say fast food is increasingly being sold around schools. The signatories say they see the consequences of this every day: "In the most extreme cases, they see teenagers who weigh 140 kilos, who are completely bedridden and see no future for themselves."

Health organizations complain that the current government is cutting back on the prevention of obesity and its health consequences. Therefore, they are calling for healthy food to become cheaper and for advertising for unhealthy food aimed at children to be banned. They are also calling for supermarkets and other stores to offer more healthy food and for food manufacturers to produce more healthy food.

The joint appeal on Thursday comes from the Diabetes Fund, the Heart Foundation, the Maag Lever Darm Stichting and the Kidney Foundation, and from doctors from hospitals such as Maastricht UMC+, the Jeroen Bosch Hospital, Erasmus MC, and Leiden University Medical Center. The professional associations for dieticians (NVD), weight consultants (BGN), and youth doctors (AJN) also support the appeal, as does the interest group for people with overweight and obesity.

It is not surprising that children in the Netherlands are increasingly struggling with their weight, as half of the Dutch population is overweight, reports Maastricht UMC+. Around 53 percent of men and 47 percent of women in the Netherlands are considered overweight. Around 7 in 100 Dutch people (14 percent) are even obese.

"An unhealthy lifestyle plays an important role in this," says human biologist Dr. Gijs Goossens from Maastricht UMC+, who researches the metabolism and fatty tissue of people who are overweight and obese. The number of overweight and obese people is increasing, and this poses a serious threat to the health of the Dutch population, now and in the future, according to the hospital.