A new review from the Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has found that the rise of electric bikes in the Netherlands has clear benefits for older people and those with health conditions, but may be reducing overall fitness among young riders.
The report, Advantages and Disadvantages of the Electric Bicycle, shows that e-bike adoption continues to accelerate nationwide. More than 80% of Dutch residents aged 12 and over cycle in some form.
In 2023, 28.6% of Dutch people aged 12 and over cycled exclusively on an e-bike, up from 23.1% in 2021, which is an increase equivalent to 3.7 million people.
Although those aged 50 and over remain the largest group of e-bike users, recent data highlights that the fastest growth has been among younger riders.
.jpg)
Among 12 to 17-year-olds, exclusive e-bike use rose from 7.6% in 2021 to 14.3% in 2023. For 18 to 24-year-olds, it increased from 4.5% to 11.1%. The number of under-24 riders has roughly doubled over the past two years.
Two-thirds of teenagers aged 12 to 17 say they use an e-bike because it allows them to go faster.
The report has found that e-bikes can make a meaningful contribution to public health, but the impact depends on the type of journey they replace.
Riding an e-bike is classified as moderate-intensity physical activity and is generally more demanding than walking, though less intensive than riding a conventional bicycle.
If an e-bike journey replaces a car trip, public transport use, or inactivity, there is a clear health gain. If it replaces a regular bike ride, the lower level of exertion results in a net loss of physical activity.
The report notes that for short journeys under 10km, particularly among young people and commuters, the health impact is limited.
Among Dutch residents who use e-bikes exclusively, 59% say they do so because cycling is easier, 49% because it allows them to travel longer distances, and 30% because it requires less effort.
(Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)
For people with chronic illness, disability or obesity, however, the benefits are clearer.
Around one in five respondents said they would not cycle at all without access to an e-bike. Experts cited in the report agree that pedal assistance helps older adults and people with health limitations stay active, remain independent, and keep participating in social life.
In addition to health findings, the review highlights growing safety concerns.
Dutch emergency department data shows that injuries involving e-bikes doubled between 2020 and 2024. Among 12 to 17-year-olds, emergency visits increased by 616% over the same period. Serious injuries rose by 92% overall.
> Older Dutch cyclists warned of electric bike dangers
E-bike riders are 1.7 times more likely to be injured in a crash than pedal cyclists. The risk doubles for riders aged 50 or older. The report attributes this to higher average speeds, heavier bike weights, and greater speed differences in traffic.
The report highlights that e-bikes are “here to stay” and that efforts must be made to minimise potential negative health effects. This includes providing better information and education for children, parents and adults about the benefits of sufficient physical activity and the importance of a safe living environment.
The review recommends discouraging the use of e-bikes for short distances where conventional cycling would provide greater health benefits. It also suggests making regular bicycles more appealing and accessible to support public health.
16 thoughts on “Sharp rise in e-bike use may reduce fitness among young riders, review finds”
This research, while welcome, really is ‘no shit Sherlock’ territory. It also points to a how our human predisposition to loafing around unless movement is absolutely essential mitigates against good health in our modern, comfortable environment. I must confess that I despair when I see children on e-bikes…
Yup, saw this coming a long time ago. Here in the USA, obesity is a major health crisis among adults and children and has been well BEFORE e-devices came onto the scene. It seemed like almost overnight that I stopped seeing kids riding actual bicycles in favor of one and two wheeled electric devices were the child is nothing more than a passenger (same with adults). Hence, when are kids getting actual exercise? If they avoid exercise as children, what are the odds that they become adults that exercise w/o electric assistance? While I can’t blame the e-device industry for this, I guarantee our societies are going to continue to get unhealthier as e-device prices continue to decline and people can buy what are actually motorcycles they can ride anywhere they want with little to know effort.
The movie “WALL-E” is no longer a fiction, it was prophetic.
“… little to no effort.” I guess I can’t edit my own post?
We no what you meant.
We certainly do. Oh, how I miss the ‘edit’ function.
ha ha Blackadder..a good use of words there..!!
Sounds like someone engineered a study that would give them the outcome they wanted tbh, though I really don’t get what the moral panic over ebikes is about. I’ve yet to meet anyone who rides an EAPC who doesn’t “settle in” at or just above the legal cutoff speed, meaning there’s little if any difference between a legal ebike and an acoustic bike for the vast majority of the time you’re pedalling. That would be even more true in the Netherlands where they spend a great deal of design effort ensuring cyclists have to stop as infrequently as possible, which would minimise the amount of times on a given trip you’re genuinely having to work less hard.
You also have to consider that most people are not enthusiasts with an N+1 “collection” of bikes, they have *A* bike, singular and solitary. If that’s an acoustic bike and a trip is hilly, windy, long, or unpleasantly stop-start many people simply won’t bother, but ebikes render those no more effort than a “normal” ride – so sure, maybe on any given trip you’re getting marginally less exercise with an ebike, but if you would have done 10 journeys in a week with a normal bike but do 20 if you have an ebike trying to frame the ebike as being “less exercise” is sheer farce(I’m aware they vaguely draw a distinction between trip replacement types, but the framing seems to suggest that there’s a platonic ideal where you ride a “normal” bike most of the time and only get your ebike out when you absolutely have to, and like I say that isn’t most people, so it’s a binary between has normal bike/does X trips and has ebike/does more than X trips).
It doesn’t matter if they’re less fit than they would be riding a normal bike. They’re riding – not driving. That’s the main thing. If e-bikes remove barriers to cycling then they’re a good thing overall.
I’m 62 and I can do a 15 mile loop on an ordinary pushbike, so I don’t understand why people with 40+ years on me need fancy bikes costing megabucks to do the same.
I just hope I can still ride a bike when I’m 102
The argument is generally: EAPCs are a more environmentally friendly way of going for a drive to the countryside
I know you’re just being provocative as usual on this issue but if that was the argument, what’s wrong with that? Isn’t it better that people are going out to enjoy the countryside on bicycles, even if assisted? With whom would you rather share the roads, them or a bunch of people in their SUVs?
It depends what you use an e-bike for. Last week, for example, I did a job for a client that required a work stand, a tool kit, parts, cleaners and a flask of tea. So I used a TERN to get there. You can’t compare a 15 mile ‘loop’, and I don’t know on what terrain, unless you compare like for like. For many people, an e-bike is a car replacement – to carry children, work stuff, to commute (in ‘normal’ clothes) etc.
I am 57 and can still ride 100 miles on an ordinary pushbike, and I completely understand that not everybody is healthy enough or inclined to do the same, particularly if they want a bicycle to commute to a physically demanding job over challenging terrain, so I’m not going to judge them for taking advantage of a bit of assistance on bicycles that do not cost megabucks (a very decent ebike can be had for less money than what many of we road bike enthusiasts would regard as absolutely entry-level expenditure). When I was going through a period a very serious illness my choice was ebike or no bike, so I am very grateful they exist.
I am 57 and can still ride 100 miles on an ordinary pushbike, and I completely understand that not everybody is healthy enough or inclined to do the same, particularly if they want a bicycle to commute to a physically demanding job over challenging terrain, so I’m not going to judge them for taking advantage of a bit of assistance on bicycles that do not cost megabucks (a very decent ebike can be had for less money than what many of we road bike enthusiasts would regard as absolutely entry-level expenditure). When I was going through a period a very serious illness my choice was ebike or no bike, so I am very grateful they exist.
I’m 40 and I use my bike as transportation as well as leisure so whether or not I *can* do a 15 mile jolly is irrelevant to whether I *want* to arrive at a friend’s for dinner without having to ask to use their shower first, or whether bike is a usable mode to travel the 40 mile round trip to the nearest proper city, or the seaside, or the wargames club I frequent.
People who’ve been riding for years have forgotten how absolutely miserable it is to spend 12-18 months going from unfit to the sort of condition where you can *usefully* ride a bicycle. When I started going again a few years ago I tried an acoustic bike first and after the first week of misery the thought of flogging myself for months before I could even do something as basic as nipping to the shops a few miles away nearly put me off completely. Luckily someone who wasn’t a judgemental twerp gave me a go on their ebike and I realised I could go from flabby and fast approaching middle aged to happy teenager blasting along the local path network levels of enjoyment *immediately* if I wanted to, and now years later I’m fitter than I was for two decades and I actually enjoyed every moment of it.
This puritan killjoy mentality is everywhere and it’s just sad. Anti-ebikers are just as bad as the soor-faced scolds who become visibly angry at the thought of people quitting smoking using vapes, as if the fact someone has stopped doing something unhealthy without doing their proper penance in withdrawal or wheezing workout agonies is a personal affront to them. None of your beezwax frankly.