Could our towns be making us fat?
A Newcastle academic says urban design is making us fat and needs to work harder to be healthier.
Tim Townshend, Director of Planning and Urban Design at Newcastle University, says decades of creating car-focussed urban environments is starting to show on our waistlines.
Tim says: "Our urban landscape is full of shopping malls and fast food restaurants, escalators and huge car parks with people battling to get the space closest to the doors so they don't have to walk very far.
"You only have to try and walk from Gateshead's Metrocentre to nearby Ikea to see this in action - these environments are simply not designed for people to walk around in.
"We need to think seriously about what kind of environment we are creating for ourselves and have a sensible debate about what's acceptable and what's not in our towns and cities. Health needs to be back on the town planning agenda before it's too late."
Rates of obesity in the UK are expected to rise to half the population by 2050.
Tim recommends building more active spaces in our towns and cities, which could even be something as simple as making our streets more attractive with trees and green areas.
