[Margaret Pilkington]

Obesity is a multifaceted problem....and needs a multifaceted approach.
Yes, exercise is important....children should also have cookery lessons at some point in the curriculum. I am not talking food technology....I am talking good basic cookery skills. Many children grow up not knowing how to cook a meal from scratch, using good fresh products. Fizzy drinks should be banned in schools and children should be encouraged to drink water.
How many of us older folk were ferried to school each day....I know that I was given the bus fare, but frequently chose not to catch the bus so that I could save this money for other things....like a visit to the pictures on a Saturday....so I got my exercise by running a couple of miles to school.
We also did competitive sports, cross country running, netball, rounders.
We didn't eat a lot of processed foods......though we did have butter and full cream milk...we rarely got sweets and hardly ever saw fizzy drinks.

I know mothers who send their children to school with a well balanced lunch box, but the children ditch the healthy food in favour of a bag of chips....so you can give the child a healthy diet..... but it doesn't mean they will eat it.