And spread sunshine all over the place,

The Dutch decided to smile. And put on a happy face:

AMSTERDAM — An increasing number of immigrants are attending tertiary education, more mothers have full-time work and a greater number of Dutch residents are paying better attention to their health.

These are just some of the elements included in a report from the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau (SCP) on Thursday summarising recent positive developments in the Netherlands.

....About 70 percent of Dutch residents don't smoke, about half exercise enough and almost 50 percent follow advice to drink alcohol in moderation.

However, the majority of residents are still failing to eat the recommended 200g of vegetables and 200g of fruit each day.

Nevertheless, there is growing interest among the population for physical and mental health.

The SCP hopes its report on positive developments will inspire the public and politicians before the New Year to view the Netherlands in a different light.