What is the Lifestyle Monitor?

The Lifestyle Monitor (LSM) is an integration of various lifestyle data collections, covering smoking, alcohol and drug use, physical activity and nutrition in the Netherlands. Lifestyle is defined as behaviour for which a relationship with good health or health problems has been established. The LSM consortium brings together various parties that focus on lifestyle in the Netherlands.

Data collection on lifestyle

The LSM aims to organise a nationally representative data collection on lifestyle in a coherent and efficient manner. Facts and figures from the LSM are intended to underpin policymaking in the field of lifestyle and health.

Which lifestyles are monitored?

The LSM covers lifestyle factors that have been found to be associated with health, such as smoking, alcohol and drug use, sexual health, physical activity, nutrition, healthy weight and accidents. In addition to lifestyle factors, the LSM also collects data on sociodemographic factors and health.

Partners

The partners in the LSM consortium include the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction (Trimbos instituut), Rutgers, Aidsfonds - Soa Aids Nederland, Dutch Consumer Safety (VeiligheidNL), the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, the Dutch Centre of Expertise on Health Disparities (Pharos), the Association of GGDs (Community Health Services) and GHOR (Regional Medical Emergency Preparedness and Planning) offices and Statistics Netherlands.

Lifestyle Monitor modules

Within the LSM, a distinction is made between the core (LSM-K) and the additional (LSM-A) modules:

  • The LSM-K serves as a basis for lifestyle policies, containing the most important prevalence rates. These are collected (bi)annually to monitor trends over time. It includes data collections with a fixed base of questions, being the Health Survey among all citizens, the Dutch National School Survey (PEIL) and Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (HBSC) for youth, and the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (DNFCS) for nutrition. For adults, figures for all lifestyle factors, as mentioned above, are retrieved from the Health Survey (nutrition figures are also retrieved from the DNFCS). For youth, figures for physical activity, healthy weight, nutrition and accidents are retrieved from the Health Survey (nutrition figures are also retrieved from the DNFCS) and figures for smoking, alcohol use, drug use and sexual health are retrieved from the PEIL/HBSC.
  • The LSM-A serves to collect additional prevalence rates of indicators that are needed less frequently than annually and to study underlying associations and explanatory variables. It includes multiple data collections, being the LSM-A Substance Use, the LSM-A Physical Activity and Accidents, the LSM-A Sexual Health in the Netherlands, the LSM-A Sex under the age of 25, the PEIL and the DNFCS.

An overview of the data collections per theme within the core and the additional modules of the Lifestyle Monitor can be found in Figure 1.

LSM theme

Module

Data collection (age range)

Smoking

LSM-K

Health Survey (18+)

PEIL/HBSC (12–16)

LSM-A

Substance use (15+)

PEIL (12–16)

Alcohol use

LSM-K

Health Survey (18+)

PEIL/HBSC (12–16)

LSM-A

Substance Use (15+)

PEIL (12–16)

Drug use

LSM-K

Health Survey (18+)

PEIL/HBSC (12–16)

LSM-A

Substance Use (15+)

PEIL (12–16)

Sexual health

LSM-K

Health Survey (16+)

PEIL/HBSC (12–16)

LSM-A

Sexual Health in the Netherlands (18–79)

Sex under the age of 25 (12–24)

Accidents

LSM-K

Health Survey (0+)

LSM-A

Physical Activity and Accidents (0+)

Physical activity

LSM-K

Health Survey (4+)

LSM-A

Physical Activity and Accidents (0+)

Nutrition

LSM-K

Health Survey (1+)

DNFCS (1–79)

LSM-A

DNFCS (1–79)

Healthy weight

LSM-K

Health Survey (4+)

 PEIL = Dutch National School Survey, HBSC = Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, DNFCS = Dutch National Food Consumption Survey

Sources of Lifestyle Monitor data

Availability of LSM-K data:

Availability of LSM-A data:

Please note: availability of LSM data collections may be subject to restrictions.

News about the Lifestyle Monitor

In 2023 more Dutch people play sports on a weekly basis
In 2023, 56% of the Dutch population aged four and over played sports at least once a week. This figure marks an increase from 53% in 2022. Notably, the percentage of individuals with physical disabilities who played sports weekly saw a significant rise, from 23% to 29%.
21-03-2024 | 17:34

Obesity rate tripled over past 40 years
In 2023, 16% of people in the Netherlands aged 20 and over were classified as obese (with a Body Mass Index (BMI(Body Mass Index)) of 30 or above) – more than three times as much as in 1981, the first year of record.
11-03-2024 | 14:43
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