‘People are creatures of habit’
Many Dutch people eat unhealthy food and exercise too little. As a result, more than half of the Dutch population is overweight. A major problem, because an unhealthy lifestyle increases the risk of diseases such as cardiovascular problems, diabetes or cancer. But why do people make these unhealthy choices and how do you break through an unhealthy lifestyle and diet?
We all know it: an apple is healthier than chips, smoking is unhealthy and we should also avoid alcohol. In addition, you should exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, avoid stress and relax sufficiently. Despite all this knowledge, we don’t do it en masse. Why is it so difficult for most of us to maintain a healthier lifestyle?
“Until about 20 years ago, we often assumed that people make decisions based on rational arguments,” says Jantine Schuit, professor of health, behavior and society. “We now know that human behavior is much more often based on emotion and that the role of the environment is very important. Nowadays people are not made easy, because everywhere they are tempted to make ‘unhealthy’ choices. supply and a healthier living environment, it is easier to make healthier choices.”
Environment of great influence
Schuit has been researching unhealthy behavior and how to turn this around for years. An answer to this question is not easy. What is clear is that the environment has a major influence. “For example, by designing neighborhoods differently. Think of car-free areas so that children can play on the street more safely. Now they often don’t play outside at all, but sit on the couch with a tablet.”
“Society is so different from roughly 25 years ago,” continues Schuit. “There are advertisements for food everywhere, the offer and the temptation are great. In addition, much is designed in such a way that people do not have to move. Where people used to go by bicycle or on foot, the car is now quickly taken. Where previously only a staircase is now an escalator or elevator. A lot of things that used to require us to leave the house, we now do online. This makes it easy for people to make the wrong choices.”
Learned young is done old
But how do we ensure that people make the right choices? “Some children have never been taught to live a healthy life. And people are creatures of habit, a certain habit is difficult to break,” says Schuit. “It is therefore very important to start teaching children healthy habits at an early age. Learned young is done old. So make sports affordable, provide an environment where it is possible to play outside for at least half an hour every day, let they go to school by bike or on foot, only give healthy snacks such as fruit and vegetables to school.
It is also important to encourage healthy behavior at other times in life. “Precisely at the moments in life where social or biological changes occur, for example during adolescence, or when getting a first job. By starting right away with good healthy habits, those habits remain your habits.”
It’s easier to get rid of a bad habit by replacing it with a healthy alternative. Make agreements with yourself and change one habit at a time. Choose something that fits into your life. For example, do you want to move more? Do this with a buddy. Often that is a big stick behind the door and then you last longer. Also do something you enjoy. By experiencing the positive effects, it will come naturally.
Jantine Schuit is a professor at the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tilburg University. She studied health education and household and consumer sciences at Wageningen University. There she obtained her PhD in 1997 on the effect of an exercise program on risk factors for cardiovascular disease in the elderly. She then worked at various centers of the RIVM, most recently as head of the Nutrition, Prevention and Care center. From 2007 until her appointment in Tilburg, she held the chair of Health Promotion and Policy at the VU in Amsterdam.