Want to be slimmer? Make sure you live near gym

PEOPLE who live near a gym or a swimming pool are slimmer, say experts.

The more fitness facilities you have close to your home and the further it is from a takeaway, the healthier you are likely to be, their study found.

Those with at least six facilities nearby had a waist circumference almost half an inch smaller, a body mass index (BMI) of 0.57 points lower, and a body fat percentage that was 0.81 per cent lower, on average.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine looked at 400,000 UK adults aged 40 to 70 in the research, published in the Lancet Public Health journal.

They say urbanisation is a key driver of obesity. Researcher Professor Steven Cummins said: ‘National and local governments need to think seriously about “designing in” health as cities grow in order to improve health.

‘It would also be important to make sure new physical activity facilities are affordable, especially when they are located in lower-income areas.’

Some 68 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women in Britain are now overweight – defined as having a BMI of more than 25.

Experts predict these figures will explode in the years to come, creating an epidemic of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Part of the problem is that most people live sedentary lives – with official statistics showing that 45 per cent of all over-16s do not even manage a ten-minute walk once a month.