We are used to seeing reports warning of an "obesity time-bomb". But the extent of the problem is often exaggerated.
Figures for 2010-11, from the National Child Measurement Programme, suggest 9% of five- to six-year-olds are obese.
That equates to 2.7 children in each class of 30. In 1990, it was 1.5.
Does a 20-year increase of just over one child per class seem like an epidemic?
That's a good question.
Dietary advice changes almost continually: eat less fat, ban junk food, tax fizzy-pop.
The Local Government Association has proposed a tax on "unhealthy" foods to enable local authorities to help overweight and obese children.
But are we missing the point?
Yes. Yes we are. We are overlooking the fact that calorie consumption, including from sugars, has been declining for many years, but so too has physical activity.
Arguably, inactivity is a better predictor of ill health than obesity.
Figures from the Physical Activity Statistics 2015 - British Heart Foundation (BHF) published this January show less than a fifth of children say they move enough - a figure that's still falling.
Shockingly, the BHF's own direct assessment of activity, using accelerometers, showed that none of the 11- to 15-year-old girls and only 7% of boys they measured actually did enough exercise.
Indeed. And many other measures show a decline in physical activity, both at work and at home.
Read The Fat Lie (PDF) for more. One day the message might get through.
