The number of Dutch people who are overweight is continuing to grow. The trend emerges from a report presented to Health Minister Ab Klink on Monday by chair of the Covenant on Overweight and Obesity, Paul Rosenmöller.

The covenant was drawn up in 2005 and set out a five-year national action plan to combat overweight. At the time, 40 percent of adults in the Netherlands were overweight, and 10 percent were obese. Unfortunately the covenant’s final report shows it has hardly been a resounding success. Now 46 percent of adults are overweight and 11 percent obese.

Among children, 14.5 percent of boys and 17.5 percent of girls are overweight. The 2005 figures were 13 and 14 percent respectively. Mr Rosenmöller told De Pers newspaper that in some cases severe overweight in children should be seen as a form of child abuse, as the parents have failed to ensure their child has an appropriate diet and sufficient exercise.

The Dutch figures are easily outstripped in the United States, where 67 percent of adults are overweight or obese, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On a world scale the Dutch figures are by no means among the highest. A 2007 study on five continents by the US Circulation journal found that obesity was a global pandemic, with an average of between half and two thirds of adults too fat.

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