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

Dataset is not available.

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.

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.

Degree of overweight

Moderate overweight

The percentage of persons whose BMI is between 25,0 and 30,0 kg/m2 .
For persons below age 18, different limits apply. These limits correspond with a BMI value of 25,0 kg/m2 and 30,0 kg/m2 in adults.

Physical activity, 4 years or older

The questions on physical activities were asked to every person aged 4 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.  Practicing sports.
From 2017 onwards, Statistics Netherlands publishes the new physical activity guidelines (drawn up by the Dutch Health Council) for people aged 4 years or older.

In order to get a better understanding of the physical activity of young people of 12 years and older, questions relating to physical education were added to the questionnaire starting in 2019. This means that for all children, aged 12 or older attending secondary school, questions about sport and physical education and sport activities organized by school were added. For children from 4 till 12 years, these questions about physical education were already included in the questionnaire.
Because of this, data from 2019 onwards about complying physical activity guidelines are not comparable with data of 2016-2018, especially for young people from 12 years or older.

Physical activity guidelines

The physical activity guidelines were drawn up by the Dutch Health Council at the end of 2017. This new guideline replaces the Dutch Norm of Healthy Exercise, the norm for fitness and the combination norm. Adults should be physically active at moderate intensity for at least two and a half hours every week, spread over several days, such as walking and cycling. In addition, they should perform muscle- and bone-strengthening activities at least twice a week. Young people from 4 to 17 years old should be physically active at moderate intensity for at least one hour every day, and they should perform muscle- and bone-strengthening activities at least three times a week.
An explanatory note has been published about the 2020 figures on this subject, see table explanation.

Sufficiently active moderate intensity

Percentage of people of 4 years or older who are sufficiently active at moderate intensity, such as walking and cycling. Persons aged 18 and over should be physically active at moderate intensity for at least two and a half hours every week, spread over several days. Young people between the ages of 4 and 17 should be physically active at moderate intensity for at least one hour every day.