Almost six in ten are overweight: health status of Belgian employees barely improves

Overweight remains a problem for employees in our country, according to the latest health report from IDEWE. The number of employees who are overweight has even risen slightly compared to last year: from 58 to 59 percent. At the same time, 68 percent move too little. In the previous health report that was 69 percent. One in four smokes, as much as last year, and 24 percent struggles with high blood pressure, a minute decrease against the previous report. IDEWE analyzed the data from 273,824 employees, over different age groups.

Men in particular appear to be more sensitive to dominance: 64 percent of them have a BMI higher than 25, compared to 52 percent for women. Most obese can be found in the transport sector (70 percent) and the construction sector (65 percent), according to IDEWE. The latter is known for his physically heavy labor, but the employees still score very badly for the motion standard of at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity per week, as recommended by the World Health Organization.

Read too. What if you are overweight according to the doctor? Anti -diet specialist: « Being healthy is not a measure »

Also among young people

« This confirms the so -called movement paradox: it is not because you do physically heavy work, that you are therefore healthier or fitter, » said Sofie Vandenbroeck of Idewe. Building workers should also invest in sufficient and varied exercise outside their working hours, it sounds.

Young people also score substandard: for employees under the age of 25, 61 percent do not reach the motion standard, compared to 68 percent across all ages. In previous years, the movement standard was achieved even less – 69 percent in the previous report and 70 percent in 2022 – but according to IDEWE it is too early to speak of a real change. « So it remains important, also for employers, to continue to raise awareness and to take initiatives on movement stimulation. »

Read too. The sweet overdose: why it is so difficult to reduce sugar

It is striking that the number of smokers remains stable, at 25 percent, « despite the social mentality change around smoking ». And there is hardly any improvement in the field of increased blood pressure.

The number of employees who follow a treatment, such as Kine or Psychotherapy, is increasing to 58 percent. Ten years ago that was 49 percent.