Efforts to promote healthier lifestyles in the Netherlands are falling short. Recent data from the National Cancer Control Programme shows smoking and severe obesity rates not only stagnating but actually increasing.
The organization set a 2005 goal to reduce smoking prevalence to 20%, but last year, 28% of the population still smoked—a 1% rise from the previous year.
Severe obesity is also on the rise: 11% of Dutch adults were severely overweight in 2008, climbing to 12% last year. Cancer cases increased too, with unhealthy lifestyles closely linked to higher risks.
Women, in particular, are seeing a sharp uptick in lung cancer diagnoses, primarily driven by smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.
