The percentage of Dutch people with obesity, seriously overweight, will almost triple in 2023 compared to 1981. This is evident from a report published on Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), which, together with the RIVM, conducts annual research into health and lifestyle in The Netherlands. In 2023, 15.7 percent of Dutch people over the age of twenty fell into this category. In 1981, the first year of measurement, it was still 5.3 percent.
A total of 51 percent of Dutch people fell into the mildly or seriously overweight category in 2023. A Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 to 30 may indicate slightly overweight, but the index does not distinguish between muscle, bone or fat mass. A BMI of over 30 may indicate serious obesity. In addition, there is an increased risk of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes. Severe forms of obesity have increased from 1 to 4 percent since 1981. Compared to other countries, the Netherlands is still on the low side. On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that more than a billion people worldwide are obese.
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In most countries, obesity is more common than underweight. When someone is underweight, with a BMI lower than 18.5 for adults, this also poses serious health risks. In 2023, 2.1 percent of Dutch children and adults were underweight, a slight decrease compared to the previous year. About 23 percent of adults with a BMI for normal weight indicated in a CBS survey that they still considered themselves ‘a little too heavy’.