Seriously ill people with eating disorders are no longer visiting a nutritionist since changes to the basic health package mean they have to pay for this themselves, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday.

The 4,000 nutritionists in the Netherlands have seen a drop of 60% in the number of appointments since the same period in 2011, according to umbrella organisation NVD.
Last week, one of the biggest nutrition organisations, LIV, went bankrupt, with the loss of 125 jobs. The Diëtheek network with 65 nutritionists say they can manage for the first quarter but are worried about the rest of the year.
Patients with breathing or swallowing problems, allergies, diabetes or heart problems now get four hours with a nutritionist, says the Volkskrant. This also applies to people who may be under-eating, such as cancer patients, says the paper. Under-eating often leads to more use of medicines and a higher risk of needing hospitalisation.
‘Children are encouraged to take exercise, but if they do not eat properly, they can still become obese,’ NVD chairman Anja Evers told the paper. ‘And many patients will now be sent to a specialist and then on to a nutritionist, which will cost more in the long run.’
Health minister Edith Schippers hoped the health insurers would include nutritionists in their extra health packages, but this has not happened.
Her spokesman told the Volkskrant the minister thinks nutrition is very important, but in order to continue paying for expensive treatments such as those for cancer, it was necessary to consider whether people could pay for nutrition advice themselves.
The NVD is worried that with practices closing, fewer students will study nutrion. ‘And just when nutrition is so important,’ Evers said.