With a diplomat father, for whom foreign postings were a fact of life, my siblings and I were expected to attend boarding schools in Britain.

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.

If I'm hunting down gifts, I like to buy locally.

Society prizes a girl for being thin more than anything else she might bring to the table.

There is an inherent tolerance and kindness in the state school teenagers I know.

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

I wish my parents hadn't made me feel that how I looked was linked to how much they loved me. But I do also see how hard it must be to see your child pile on the pounds and trust they'll find their own way back to a healthy weight.