Alarming increase in Dutch kids with obesity, pediatricians warn

Pediatricians have reported a sharp increase in the number of children with obesity. Nearly 400,000 Dutch children are overweight, and a quarter of them are obese.

“The question is how much worse things have to get before politicians intervene,” said Lissy de Ridder, chair of the Dutch Association of Pediatrics (NVK).

Due to the rise in the number of children with obesity, the amount of obesity medication used has increased fivefold between 2020 and 2024, and waiting lists have doubled.

Pediatricians warn that obesity causes serious health problems, such as fatty liver disease, joint pain, and type 2 diabetes. The NVK and De Gezonde Generatie (The Healthy Generation), a collaborative group of health funds, urgently called for preventive policies.

“The government has a duty of care, which it can fulfill through legislation and regulations, for example, by making healthy food more affordable or banning the advertising of unhealthy food and drinks aimed at children.”