Report on Sport 2008

Sport: it appeals to people; it brings people together; it promotes health; and it is profitable. Today, in 2008, sport is enjoying popularity as never before. Two-thirds of the Dutch population take part in some form of sport. After swimming and cycling, fitness training has become the most popular sport. In addition, 1.5 million people in the Netherlands are active as volunteers for sport. The government is investing more and more in sport - currently more than EUR 1 billion - with the aim of involving more people in sport and exercise. Several new sports education programmes have been launched and the number of students is growing. The growth in the investments in top sport since 2000 means that more and more top-level sportsmen and women can devote themselves entirely to their sport and receive better coaching. Partly as a result of this, Dutch sportsmen and women are achieving better results in competition than ever before.

Yet all that glitters is not gold. The number of people participating in sport is rising, but the number of people who are overweight is not falling. And while the Dutch spend an average of 2.5 hours per week on sport, this has to be set off against the 15 hours spent watching television and using the computer. The decline in the proportion of participants in sport who are members of a sports club has continued in recent years. Fewer people watch sport on television each week. By no means all primary schools employ a specialist sports teacher. Lack of (sufficient) exercise costs Dutch society EUR 0.7 billion annually in health care costs. It therefore makes economic sense to continue investing in sport and exercise.

In the Report on Sport 2008 staff from SCP, the W.J.H. Mulier Institute and other research institutes bring together and comment on the main trends and developments in relation to sport. The book therefore forms and up-to-date and indispensable reference work for anyone whose work or studies involve them in Dutch sport.