Child healthcare organisations have urged the government to do more to prevent childhood obesity after seeing new patient referrals double in the last three years.

Some 400,000 children in the Netherlands are overweight, 25% of whom are classed as obese, according to the association for children’s medicines NVK and campaign group De Gezonde Generatie.

Paediatrician and obesity specialist Felix Kreier said the number of patients being treated for obesity had gone up by 20% since 2020 and the use of medicines such as appetite suppressants had increased fivefold.

“Around one-third of children that doctors see have signs of fatty liver disease, something that was rare 10 years ago,” Kreier said. “That can lead to liver function disorders and even cancer of the liver.”

Doctors said children were being exposed to poor health choices in advertising, games and by online influencers, and called on the government to stimulate healthier eating habits.

“The government has a duty of care that it can realise by legislating, for example by making healthy food cheaper or banning advertisements for unhealthy food and drink aimed at children,” said Diena Halbertsma, spokeswoman for De Gezonde Generatie.

Edgar van Mil, paediatric endocrinologist and founder of the Children’s Centre for Lifestyle Medicine in Den Bosch, said waitiing lists for children with obesity had doubled in five years.

”We support families to develop healthier lifestyle habits stage by stage, together with colleagues in our network. But the unhealthy eating environment has to change as well,” he said.