Half of adults are still overweight

Half of the adults in the Netherlands were overweight last year. This is the same as when the National Prevention Agreement was introduced in 2018, with which, among other things, excess kilos must be combated.

This is apparent from the 2021 Health Survey/Lifestyle Monitor of Statistics Netherlands (CBS) in collaboration with RIVM, the Trimbos Institute and the Pharos expertise center.

With the Prevention Agreement, the government and seventy social organizations want to achieve not only that people are less heavy, but also that they say no more often to cigarettes and drinks. Smoking and problematic alcohol use among adults should be reduced to 5 percent by 2040, overweight to 38 percent and more severe obesity to 7.1 percent.

Share of smokers decreased

In 2021, however, the number of overweight adults was still at 50 percent, while 14 percent were even obese. The proportion of smokers has fallen slightly: from 22 percent in 2018 to 21 percent last year. There is also a slight decrease in drinking: 7 percent of the over 18s drank alcohol excessively, slightly less than in 2018 and 2019. The percentage of heavy drinkers (8 percent) remained the same.

Overweight occurs in people with a so-called Body Mass Index (BMI) from 25 and obese with a BMI from 30. The BMI is a kind of measure for the ratio between your weight and your height.

Drinking excessively

Excessive drinkers are women who drink more than 14 drinks a week and men who drink more than 21 a week. You are a heavy drinker if as a man you drink 6 or more glasses of alcohol in one day at least once a week or if you as a woman drink 4 or more glasses of alcohol per 24 hours at least once a week.

Obesity and smoking are more common among people with a lower affluence or a lower educational level.