Step forward in the battle against obesity

Last Tuesday evening, Nederlandse Obesitas Kliniek opened a new location in Amsterdam. During the opening, a number of well-known Dutch patients (Lady Galore, Bastiaan van Schaik and Bas van Werven) spoke about their experiences in losing weight after their gastric bypass operation. CEO of Nederlandse Obesitas Kliniek Kobus Dijkhorst and Amsterdam’s Councillor for Care Simone Kukenheim (D66) concluded the evening by cutting a ribbon. The new location is expected to help 1000 people by the end of this year, a number that will increase to 1400 by 2020, cementing Nederlandse Obesitas Kliniek’s position as market leader when it comes to treating people with morbid obesity.

The evening commenced with a speech by branch manager Anouk Nooteboom, after which TV presenter Bas van Werven, drag queen Lady Galore and stylist Bastiaan van Schaik told candidly about their lives after the operation had taken place. After this, Councillor Simone Kukenheim (D66) pleaded for a series of structural change in the Netherlands, focusing primarily on a different eating and living pattern.

The number of obese people in the Netherlands has increased by 25 percent in just seven years. In 2018, more than 2.2 million Dutch people were severely overweight, 250,000 of whom had the most severe form: morbid obesity. This makes overweight a very serious and growing social problem. Obesity patients are confronted with all kinds of problems, such as diabetes and psychological problems. Losing weight is necessary, but this group of patients no longer succeeds independently. According to doctors, a gastric bypass operation is the only option left.

At the new location, Nederlandse Obesitas Kliniek is working closely with the Amsterdam-based hospital OLVG. The operations take place in the hospital and the supervision of patients in the new location. During this supervision, the onus is placed on a genuine change of lifestyle, to ensure that the patients. According to estimates, approximately 12,000 stomach reductions are made each year in the Netherlands