Life style and (preventive) health; personal characteristics, 2014-2021

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Characteristics persons Margins Periods Length and weight Reported length, 18 years or older (number) Length and weight Reported weight, 18 years or older (number) Length and weight Under- and overweight, 4 years or older Underweight (%) Length and weight Under- and overweight, 4 years or older Normal weight (%) Length and weight Under- and overweight, 4 years or older Overweight (%) Physical activity, 12 years or older Meeting the Dutch Norm Healthy Exercise Inactive (%) Physical activity, 12 years or older Meeting the Dutch Norm Healthy Exercise Semi-active (%) Physical activity, 12 years or older Meeting the Dutch Norm Healthy Exercise Norm-active (%)
Background: Netherlands Value 2014 175.0 78.2 1.8 55.1 43.2 10.9 30.6 58.5
2015 175.1 78.2 2.1 54.8 43.1 11.0 31.1 57.9
2016 175.2 78.4 2.3 54.4 43.3 11.0 30.7 58.3
2017 175.2 78.5 2.1 54.8 43.1 10.6 30.9 58.5
2018 175.2 79.0 2.1 54.5 43.4 . . .
2019 175.2 78.5 2.5 54.4 43.1 . . .
2020 175.4 78.8 2.5 53.7 43.9 . . .
2021 175.3 78.8 1.9 53.9 44.1 . . .
Lower boundary 95% confidence interval 2014 174.7 77.9 1.5 53.9 42.0 10.2 29.4 57.3
2015 174.8 77.8 1.7 53.7 41.9 10.2 30.0 56.7
2016 175.0 78.0 1.9 53.2 42.1 10.2 29.6 57.0
2017 175.0 78.2 1.8 53.6 42.0 9.8 29.8 57.3
2018 174.9 78.6 1.8 53.3 42.3 . . .
2019 175.0 78.1 2.1 53.2 41.9 . . .
2020 175.1 78.4 2.1 52.4 42.6 . . .
2021 175.0 78.3 1.6 52.6 42.9 . . .
Upper boundary 95% confidence interval 2014 175.2 78.6 2.1 56.2 44.3 11.7 31.7 59.7
2015 175.3 78.5 2.4 56.0 44.3 11.7 32.3 59.2
2016 175.5 78.8 2.7 55.6 44.5 11.8 31.9 59.5
2017 175.5 78.9 2.4 55.9 44.3 11.3 32.1 59.7
2018 175.4 79.4 2.5 55.6 44.5 . . .
2019 175.4 78.9 2.9 55.6 44.3 . . .
2020 175.7 79.2 2.9 54.9 45.1 . . .
2021 175.6 79.2 2.4 55.2 45.4 . . .
Level of educ.: pre-prim.and prim. educ. Value 2014 168.8 76.6 1.1 37.1 61.8 22.3 26.1 51.7
2015 169.4 78.3 1.2 33.9 65.0 18.9 27.4 53.7
2016 169.3 77.4 2.4 33.6 64.0 25.6 24.6 49.7
2017 169.6 78.6 1.2 32.5 66.3 19.6 28.9 51.5
2018 169.1 77.6 0.8 35.2 64.0 . . .
2019 169.9 78.7 1.8 33.1 65.1 . . .
2020 169.0 77.6 2.5 32.9 64.6 . . .
2021 169.3 77.3 1.7 36.0 62.2 . . .
Lower boundary 95% confidence interval 2014 168.1 75.4 0.3 33.3 57.9 19.0 22.6 47.7
2015 168.7 77.1 0.3 30.1 61.2 15.8 23.9 49.8
2016 168.5 76.1 1.2 29.7 60.1 22.1 21.2 45.7
2017 168.7 77.2 0.3 28.7 62.5 16.3 25.2 47.5
2018 168.3 76.2 0.1 31.4 60.2 . . .
2019 169.1 77.3 0.6 29.2 61.2 . . .
2020 168.1 76.1 1.1 28.7 60.4 . . .
2021 168.2 75.7 0.8 31.1 56.9 . . .
Upper boundary 95% confidence interval 2014 169.6 77.8 2.0 40.9 65.6 25.5 29.5 55.6
2015 170.1 79.6 2.0 37.6 68.7 21.9 30.9 57.6
2016 170.1 78.8 3.7 37.4 67.9 29.2 28.1 53.8
2017 170.4 79.9 2.0 36.3 70.2 22.8 32.6 55.6
2018 169.8 78.9 1.5 39.0 67.9 . . .
2019 170.7 80.1 3.0 37.0 69.0 . . .
2020 169.9 79.1 3.9 37.0 68.8 . . .
2021 170.5 78.8 3.5 41.3 67.3 . . .
Level of educ: master degrees and doc. Value 2014 176.2 76.6 1.4 57.8 40.7 6.5 34.7 58.9
2015 176.9 76.0 1.1 64.4 34.5 4.7 32.0 63.3
2016 176.8 75.9 1.8 63.1 35.1 4.5 31.9 63.7
2017 176.7 76.4 1.9 62.2 36.0 6.3 32.7 61.0
2018 176.4 75.7 1.6 62.6 35.8 . . .
2019 176.3 75.5 1.6 62.9 35.5 . . .
2020 176.8 76.4 0.8 61.9 37.3 . . .
2021 177.4 77.5 1.8 60.2 38.1 . . .
Lower boundary 95% confidence interval 2014 175.5 75.6 0.6 54.1 37.1 4.6 31.1 55.2
2015 176.2 75.0 0.3 60.8 31.0 3.1 28.5 59.7
2016 176.1 74.9 0.8 59.4 31.5 2.9 28.3 60.0
2017 176.0 75.4 0.9 58.8 32.7 4.6 29.4 57.6
2018 175.7 74.7 0.8 59.3 32.5 . . .
2019 175.7 74.5 0.8 59.8 32.4 . . .
2020 176.2 75.4 0.2 58.6 33.9 . . .
2021 176.7 76.5 1.0 56.8 34.8 . . .
Upper boundary 95% confidence interval 2014 176.9 77.7 2.3 61.5 44.4 8.3 38.2 62.6
2015 177.6 77.1 1.9 67.9 38.1 6.3 35.5 67.0
2016 177.6 77.0 2.8 66.8 38.8 6.0 35.4 67.4
2017 177.4 77.3 2.8 65.5 39.3 8.0 36.0 64.4
2018 177.1 76.7 2.5 65.9 39.0 . . .
2019 176.9 76.5 2.4 66.0 38.6 . . .
2020 177.5 77.3 1.5 65.2 40.6 . . .
2021 178.1 78.5 3.0 63.5 41.4 . . .
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table contains data on life style and on the (preventive) health examination of the Dutch population in private households. These data can be grouped by several personal characteristics.

Data available from: 2014-2021

Status of the data: final.

Changes by July 31, 2023
None, the table has been discontinued.

When will new data be published?
Not applicable anymore. This table has been replaced, see paragraph 3 for a link to the new table.

Description topics

Length and weight
The questions on length and weight were asked to every person. It is asked to report one's length in centimetres and one's body weight in kilograms without clothes. If a woman is pregnant, she is asked to report her body weight before the pregnancy.


Reported length, 18 years or older
The mean length in centimetres reported by persons of 18 years or older, without shoes
Reported weight, 18 years or older
The mean weight in kilograms, without clothes, reported by persons of 18 years or older. Women who are pregnant are asked to report their weight before the pregnancy.
Under- and overweight, 4 years or older
Under- and overweight is measured with the so-called Body Mass Index (BMI). The BMI is the quotient of the body weight in kilograms and the square of the length in meters [kg/m2]. For persons aged 20 years or older, the BMI is used to calculate the following weight indicators:
1.Underweight: BMI < 18,5
2.Normal weight: BMI >= 18,5 and < 25,0
3.Overweight: BMI >= 25,0
a.Moderate overweight: BMI >= 25,0 and < 30,0
b.Severe overweight: BMI >= 30,0
For persons younger than 20 years of age, different limit values apply. These values depend on gender and age . Respondents whose length and/or weight is unknown or who reported an improbable weight in relation to their length are not used for calculating the indicators. This applies to persons aged 20 years or older with a BMI lower than 14 or higher than 50, and persons younger than 20 years of age with a BMI below 10 or above 50. From 2018 onwards, there is no longer un upper limit of BMI.
Underweight
The percentage of persons whose BMI is lower than 18,5 kg/m2.
For persons below age 20, different limits are used to establish underweight. For persons under 18, these limits correspond with a BMI below 17 kg/m2 in adults. For persons aged 18 and 19 years old, the BMI below which a person is considered underweight is obtained by linear interpolation between those values for individuals aged 17 and 20 years old.

Normal weight
The percentage of persons whose BMI value is between 18,5 and 25,0 kg/m2 .
For persons below age 20, different lower and upper limits are used to establish normal weight. For persons under 18, these limits correspond with a BMI between 17 and 25 kg/m2 in adults. For persons aged 18 and 19 years old, the minimum BMI for which a person is said to have normal weight is obtained by linear interpolation of the values for individuals aged 17 and 20 years old.
Overweight
The percentage of persons whose BMI is 25,0 kg/m2 or more.
For persons below age 18, different limits apply. These limits correspond with a BMI value of 25,0 kg/m2 in adults.


Physical activity, 12 years or older
The questions on physical activities were asked to every person aged 12 years or older, and are based upon the so-called Short Questionnaire to Assess Health Enhancing Physical Activity (SQUASH). This questionnaire aims to provide a complete view of a person-s physical activity. Frequencies and durations of the following physical activities were asked for:
1.Commuting to work or school by cycle or on foot,
2.Activities at work or in school,
3.Housekeeping activities ,
4.Walking, cycling, gardening and doing odd jobs in spare time,
5.Practising sports.
From 2017 onwards, Statistics Netherlands will publish the new physical activity guidelines (drawn up by the Dutch Health Council) for people aged 4 years or older. The figures on physical activity of people aged 12 or older are published for the last time in 2017.
Meeting the Dutch Norm Healthy Exercise
The percentage of persons of 12 years or older who comply with the Dutch Norm of Healthy Exercise. This Dutch standard specifies the minimal amount of physical exercise that is required to maintain and improve health. It is based on MET values (metabolic equivalents): 1 MET corresponds to the energy expenditure of sitting, resting, and 5 MET corresponds to 5 times the energy expenditure of this resting metabolic rate. For all activities that are enquired in the SQUASH questionnaire, the MET value has been established.
According to the standard, adolescents aged 12 to 17 years need to perform moderately intensive physical activities (MET value minimally 5) at least one hour daily, such as bicycling. Persons of 18 years or older should perform moderately intensive physical activities at least for half an hour, at least five days a week. For persons aged 18 to 54 years, the MET value should at least by 4, e.g. walking (5 km / h). For persons of 55 years or older, it will do to perform in accordance with a MET value of 3, e.g. quietly walking (4 km / h).
At the end of 2017, the Dutch Health Council published new physical activity guidelines. The figures on the Dutch Norm of Healthy Exercise are published for the last time in 2017.

Inactive
The percentage of persons of 12 years or older who are inactive. A person is considered to be inactive if there is not a single day in which there is compliance with the Dutch Norm of Healthy Exercise.
Semi-active
The percentage of persons of 12 years or older who are semi-active. A person is considered to be semi-active if the Dutch Norm of Healthy Exercise is not met, but if he or she still is normally active at least 1 and at the most 6 days (youngsters from 12 up to and including 17 years of age) or at most 4 days (adults).
Norm-active
The percentage of persons of 12 years or older who are norm-active. A person is considered to be norm-active if he or she complies with the Dutch Norm of Healthy Exercise.