Poor street lighting, a lack of footpaths and busy roads can be the difference between walking and getting into the car to run a simple errand. It can also be the difference between being a healthy weight and being overweight.

Lack of green space and accessible public transport are making people overweight, obesity specialists say.

The Heart Foundation’s national director of clinical issues, Rob Grenfell, said if open space was inviting and safe, people would leave the car at home. Even putting a footpath through the end of a cul-de-sac to another street could entice more people to take a daily walk.

”But if you have barriers in front of you, such as poor street crossing, poor lighting … you’re less likely to do these sorts of things,” Dr Grenfell said. ”You simply can’t have physical activity if you don’t have the environment to do it in.”

Planning flaws foster obesity

A 350lb. grandmother claims she will die if she isn’t given a gastric bypass, after her operation was cancelled for the second time.

Louise Hastings, 45, was set to undergo surgery on the NHS at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham this March in a bid to shed the pounds.

The procedure, which shrinks the stomach and restricts the appetite is designed to help people with life-threatening obesity lose weight. It costs between £10,000 and £15,000.

‘They’re playing with my life’: 25-stone woman fears she will die after gastric bypass op is cancelled for the second time | Mail Online

An Iowa woman has given birth to a boy weighing 13 pounds and 13 ounces – without the aid of surgery.

Asher Stewardson was born Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, measuring 23 1/2 inches long. Fifteen months ago, his brother, Judah, arrived weighing 12 pounds and an ounce at birth.

Mercy officials say only a tenth of 1 percent of all newborns weigh more than 11 pounds at birth.

My Way News – Nearly 14-pound baby boy born in Des Moines