In Utrecht, 48 organizations have joined forces to reduce or prevent overweight and obesity among children. Together with the municipality, these are organizations in the field of sports, education, welfare and care, as well as volunteers and freelancers. The aim of this collaboration is to start a downward trend so that by 2040 only a maximum of 9 percent of the youth will be overweight. This is reported by the municipality of Utrecht.
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Obesity has several health risks in the medium term. This concerns type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular problems, joint complaints or depression. Since the approach to obesity, a decreasing trend has been visible in obesity in children. The percentage has been fairly stable since 2013. In 2019, 14 percent of 10 to 11-year-olds were overweight, among the 2 and 5- to 6-year-olds that percentage was 9 percent.
Special education
The partnership wants to increase equal opportunities for the most vulnerable children. That is why there is also specific attention for special education. Compared to children from regular education, the percentage of overweight children is much higher. Where in regular education 9 percent of the 5- to 6-year-olds are overweight, this is 18 percent in special primary education and 20 percent in special education. For the 10 to 11 years old, the difference is even greater. There, 14 percent of children in mainstream education are overweight, where 40 percent of children in special primary education and 28% in special education are overweight.
Partly thanks to Special Heroes, a so-called ‘vitality broker’ has been set up to reduce overweight among this group. This vitality broker supports and advises schools about sports and exercise, but also about nutrition and relaxation. There are also various organizations involved in a healthy lifestyle, such as Vegetable Soup, the GeluksBV and GrowWizzkid, which have adapted their programs in such a way that schools in special education can also use them.
By: National Education Guide
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