Yet another report from the wise old sages at the top of the UK medical profession has said that obesity among children is growing at an alarming rate, and they are urging the government to do something about it before it’s too late. As if the words ‘government’ and ‘do something’ have any form of correlation.

At particular risk, it seems, are children aged two to four. Children? Aged two to four? How many of that age group are capable of making their own decisions on what is good for them? All they care about is how sweet it is and which cartoon character is on the packaging.   

You can’t blame the kids though, it’s not their fault, they can’t get hooked on this garbage if their parents don’t give it to them, can they? What’s needed is for the parents to stop slobbing-out in front of the tv with a beer and a pizza and take an interest in what they’re putting into their and their children’s mouths.

They should stop filling their children’s bellies with trash and start educating their palates away from all this processed and pre-packed garbage. Get some real home-cooked food and some fruit and veg down ‘em, then get them out the door for a bit of exercise. (Exercise and play: something that kids used to do before the days of virtual friends, social media and mobile phones.)

Here’s what obesity in children is really about.

It’s about the food industry’s profit margins, commercialism and cynical marketing.

It’s about couch potatoes, sweets, burgers, pizzas, processed food, chips with everything, bingeing, buckets of fizzy drinks and ‘family-sized’ take-aways.

It’s about not eating fresh fruit and veg, not being given balanced meals, not getting any physical exercise.

It’s about ignorance, laziness, mind-numbing soap operas, ‘reality’ tv, computers, video gaming, facebook, and being driven half a mile to school.

Parents, you don’t need a toothless bloody government to tell you whether your children are fat or not. Just strip ‘em off, stand ‘em in front of the mirror and have a good look at what you see, you’ll know.

Then you need to get off your arses, stop looking for somebody to blame and deal with the problem. They’re your kids, not the government’s, take some fucking responsibility and give them a chance in life.