My theory is that one needs to be loved completely, unconditionally, and unfettered by parental disapproval, if one is to get happily through life which, after all, presents its own hurdles.

Call me an over anxious, middle-class mum, but my eight-and-a-half-year old son looks very much, to me, like he's headed for a life of crime.

If no one saw - it didn't count. It's only when you eat in front of strangers or people that make you feel guilty that food is really fattening.

My parents' generation's benchmark was simple: Fat Equals Bad.

My dad was a diplomat and after living in America, where I was born, he was posted to Cairo.

Statistically, if you have ever dieted you are extremely likely not only to regain any weight you lose, but to go on to gain even more. Dieting makes you fat.

I'm the co-chair of the PTA at my kids' school, Ashmount Primary, in north Islington, London.