Adolescents give advice on how to combat overweight

CO-CREATE participants discuss policy advice Overweight has been a major social problem for some time already, and the coronavirus pandemic has only served to exacerbate it. In order to successfully combat youth overweight, adolescents are calling for bold and collective action. By means of the CO-CREATE research project, in which the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is also participating, they have formulated their own policy advice on how to create healthier environments. In 2016, nearly 41 million children between the ages of 5 and 19 were overweight or obese in Europe. In the Netherlands in the same year, 18.2% of boys and 12.1% of girls aged 5-19 were obese. These figures are only expected to continue to rise even further and faster. In the Netherlands, various programmes have been launched to combat overweight among adolescents and young adults, such as clear information on packaging, healthy choices at school and a healthy living environment.