Healthy lifestyle

People who get enough exercise, who are moderate drinkers, non-smokers, and who are not overweight have a healthy lifestyle.

In order to meet the Dutch healthy exercise standards, adults have to engage in moderately intensive activity for at least half an hour a day five days a week. Young people under 18 should engage in moderately intensive activity for at least one hour a day.

Modest drinkers were compared with people who do not drink alcohol and with heavy drinkers (at least six glasses of alcohol once a week).

Overweight is determined on the basis of the ‘Body Mass Index’ (BMI). The BMI value is obtained by dividing the body weight in kilograms by the square of the body height in metres). BMI 25 means someone is overweight, BMI 30 means someone is obese.