Blokhuis: “We are learning more and more about the enormous impact that lifestyle can have on our health. Lifestyle-related diseases claim the lives of around 35,000 people every year. If you do not smoke, eat healthily, do not drink too much alcohol and exercise regularly, you have a greater chance of being healthy and may even overcome health problems. But we all also know from everyday experience that living healthily is much easier said than done. One of the issues we need to explore further is: how can we help and guide people to live healthier lives? Doctors naturally play a crucial role in this. I hope that these additional investments in lifestyle medicine research can contribute to this.”
Playgrounds to become smoke-free 5 years earlier
This additional investment builds on the movement initiated by the National Prevention Agreement, in which more than 70 parties, including healthcare professionals and hospitals, made agreements to promote a healthy lifestyle. State Secretary Blokhuis has sent a letter to the House of Representatives on the progress of the Prevention Agreement. In this letter, he also announces that his discussions with NUSO, the trade association for playgrounds, have led to playgrounds becoming smoke-free 5 years earlier than agreed in the Prevention Agreement. The agreement was for all playgrounds to be smoke-free by 2025; NUSO is now aiming to achieve this by 2020.