More than half of Den Helder residents are overweight or obese, according to new figures from GGD, RIVM and CBS. Despite programs that focus on a healthier lifestyle, the percentage of overweight in the city has not decreased in recent years. “The environment in which we live is becoming increasingly unhealthy,” says Jessica Glasbergen, director of JOGG (Youth at a Healthy Weight) in Den Helder.
The obesity rate in particular stands out. Den Helder is the only city in the province where more than 20 percent, or a fifth of the population, is obese.
In 2016, the municipality of Den Helder joined the JOGG program (Youth at a Healthy Weight), which is led by Sportservice Den Helder. Here young people are helped to develop a healthier lifestyle. Families are also involved. Five years after its start, then JOGG director Tanja Ites told to NH that it would take a few years for that change to be reflected in the figures.
Jessica Glasbergen is the current JOGG director in Den Helder. In a written response, she calls it ‘worrying’ that so many people are still overweight: “In the supermarket, the shelves are also full of chips, biscuits, sweets and soft drinks. Everywhere you step in, there seems to be sweets for sale; at the hardware store at the checkout or in any sports canteen. The cinema no longer has small bags of chips, you can only buy a large bag of chips there.”
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Noordkop & Texel
This year, the municipality and the GGD started a second program in collaboration with Sportservice Noordkop, with the same goal but aimed at younger children. Under the supervision of a youth nurse, the lifestyle of children and families is examined.
Glasbergen: “You can no longer regard overweight as an individual responsibility. It is a social problem. The environment in which we live is becoming increasingly unhealthy.”
In Den Helder, 36.6 percent of residents are overweight, 21.4 percent are obese, according to new figures from GGD, RIVM and CBS. That percentage is higher than in the rest of North Holland.
The overweight figure has not fallen since the population monitor in 2016. Then 57.7 percent of residents were (severely) overweight, now that is 58 percent. That figure is higher than in the rest of North Holland and also higher than the national average. But, says the GGD in a written response, the percentage has not fallen since 2016 at the national level.
The GGD also responds in writing to the figures: “We cannot precisely indicate the cause. What we do see is that for more outcomes, it is in Den Helder less well than in other municipalities. For example, they generally experience less good health, they have a higher risk of an anxiety disorder or depression, more residents have difficulty making ends meet and there are fewer people who exercise weekly or are members of a sports club.”
Money worries
The response continues: “These are all factors that can also influence becoming overweight. Health problems and money worries make it difficult to live a healthy life and make healthy choices. In Den Helder more people live in vulnerable socio-economic situations.“
“Empowering children to make healthy choices is not only the responsibility of parents”
Despite the fact that she also finds the figures worrying, Glasbergen is optimistic that the JOGG approach can have an effect. “I focus on the environments where children and young people come a lot: at home, school, during leisure time, sports, neighbourhood, work and media. In these environments it must become normal and self-evident to be able to make the healthy choice.”
Glasbergen is already seeing good results, especially at schools, for example. But they are far from there yet, she also says. “We want to increase this reach, but it is not always easy to start a conversation. More parties must take responsibility and think about what is offered in the environment of children. I can help them with this. Let children make healthy choices is not only the responsibility of parents.”