THE idea of schools sending letters home to the parents of children who are fat might look like a good idea at first glance.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson certainly thinks the initiative may make some contribution to the apparent problem of childhood obesity in this country. I say apparent because it is still not clear to me whether this is a problem or an epidemic.

With this issue, as with so many others relating to health, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction in the age of the information blizzard, spin and conflicting so-called expert opinion. As Mr Johnson clearly recognises, a letter home is not going to be an answer in itself, only part of a much wider effort.

But the whole exercise begs the question of just how much responsibility parents are taking currently if it needs a piece of paper from the government via the school to tell them something's wrong.

A good diet is not nuclear physics and the only reliable and effective answer is for those who are overweight to eat less and eat better. If parents don't have time or inclination to sort out such basics, then what hope is there?

l Along with smokers who chuck their fag ends on the ground, cyclists who career through pedestrianised areas are on my hitlist. Police say they don't have the resources to deal with this despite regular complaints - and in any case it's not target driven. Perhaps the new superwardens (who are going to deal with the smokers I believe) could also be armed with broom handles to be inserted through the spinning spokes.

Simple, effective, but a joke, of course.