Now, I'm not normally a raving mad right-winger, but, child obesity is child abuse, in my opinion. And I think parents should be locked up for it.

I'm serious.

I am clearly obese myself and trying to do something about it, which is what this blog is all about.

But that is a result of lifestyle choices I made as an adult.

As a child you don't have those choices, you hope the parents that love and nurture you will be able to protect you from exactly these kind of health dangers.

Childhood obesity has doubled in the Bristol area, which is a disgrace.

It doesn't matter what your background or socioeconomic situation is, there is no excuse for letting your child put on so much weight that it endangers his or her life.

The physical damage is horrendous, but the psychological damage is just as bad as undoubtedly they will be teased and bullied for being fat, as we all know kids are the worst for that.

It's just not enough to claim lamely that you don't know how to cook 'proper food' and so you have to rely on ready meals and take outs, or that you have no control over your kids. If you don't know how to cook, learn! And fast. It's really not that hard. The health and well being of your children must surely be the number one priority for a parent and enough to motivate you to learn how to feed them properly.

If they are getting fatter before your eyes, it's not hard to see that there is a problem.

If you hit your child on a regular basis to the point where he or she is permanently damaged you would expect to be locked up for it, so why should this be any different?

I don't mean to get on a soapbox, well maybe a bit, but it is something I do personally feel very strongly about.

Certain supermarket chains don't help the situation by selling all the worst kind of food at the lowest prices.

Parents on tight budgets are obviously going to go for the extra value boxes of ten pizzas for a quid if they have a lot of hungry mouths to feed.

But we live in a world where the area you live in determines the quality of food available from the local supermarket, as shops like Waitrose are only usually found in the leafier parts of our city. And there's no Iceland in Clifton.

It's also a world in which the food that is best for you is often out of the price bracket of those who are most in need of good nutrition.

I don't propose that everybody should be feeding their kids locally sourced, free range organic food, but I know there is an affordable, healthy alternative to a constant diet of chips, fizzy drinks and chocolate.

Obesity is just the start of the problems because it can also cause heart disease and diabetes before they get to 30, and they may not even see 40.

Now I've got that off my chest, I've worked up quite an appetite.