A survey by Men's Fitness reveals two Scottish cities as Britain's flabbiest.

From a total of 22 cities surveyed with a 2001 population of more than 220,000, Glasgow topped the poll for the second year running, followed by Edinburgh, up from tenth position in the previous survey.

Both cities were found to have high fat consumption and high heart disease rates, with Glasgow's disease rate being one of the highest in the world.

Glasgow was also found to have a low consumption of fruit and vegetables whilst Edinburgh has a high obesity rate.

Bottom of the table, at 22, is London, down from 20th position in the last survey, where Men's Fitness comments that its citizens eat the most fruit and vegetables and have a heart disease rate lower than average.

Elsewhere in the review, Wolverhampton, which has the lowest levels of gym membership and higher than average rates of tv viewing, is 5th. Manchester, with the highest number of fast food outlets per 1,000 residents, is joint 6th with Swansea. Nottingham, whose population has the highest number of pubs per 1,000 people, is 11th. Bradford, which has the lowest number of health clubs, gyms and leisure centres per 1,000 residents, is 16th. Newcastle, joint 17th with Bristol, has the fewest number of parks and open spaces.

According to the World Health Organisation, obesity is now a world-wide epidemic and one of its fastest growing health problems. It reports that obesity in Britain has trebled over the past 20 years and, if the growth rate remains the same, one in four British people will be obese in 2010.

Figures from the National Audit Office indicate that one in five British adults is dangerously overweight. The Men's Fitness survey reveals that nearly a quarter of the residents in Stoke-on-Trent are obese, the figure being marginally lower in Derby at one fifth. Obesity in Liverpool was also shown to be at a very high level.

Information used for the creation of the survey came from various sources, including the Office for National Statistics for incidences of coronary heart disease and the Scottish Health Survey (1998), the Northern Ireland Health and Wellbeing Survey (1997), the Welsh Health Survey (1998) and the Department of Health for statistics on obesity.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1999) and the National Food Survey (1998) provided data on eating habits and the number of gym members per 1,000 head of population in each city was obtained from the Leisure Database Company. The figure for recreational open spaces was sourced from the Urban Parks Forum 2001 report Public Park Assessment.

Figures for the number of pubs, fast food restaurants and takeaways - which were added together - and also for health clubs and leisure centres - similarly added together - per 1,000 people in each city, were obtained from Yellow Pages online. Details: +44 (0)20 7907 6126