I was born in 1954.... the year all food rationing was ended after WWII.

My mum wasn't at home and worked a full day yet she still cooked us a meal every night using fresh meat and vegetables. We never had pizzas, burgers or KFC and drank water, not fizzy pop or cola.

As a kid I was hardly in the house during daylight hours.... only going indoors pretty much to eat, go to toilet, wash and sleep and do my homework.

The rest of the time when I wasn't at school I was out playing footy, on a bike, climbing trees, running races, playing french cricket etc etc with all the boys and girls in my neighbourhood. When I was at school we had plenty of games/PE lessons but also ran around the playground at lunch and breaktimes playing footy or tag games. We never stopped running all day.

As I got older I helped the milkman on Saturdays and Sundays doing a full day. Then joined athletic/sports clubs to play the usual sports and/or snooker, table tennis, badminton, judo etc.

I then went to work for L&G at Kingswood, which provided a whole host of activities from sport to amateur dramatics. Every night after work I would have plenty of options to exercise or broaden my mind by taking up chess for example.

Thank you for having the patience to read through my memoirs..... the point is....

Up and till I was fifty years old I kept myself fit and active and could eat/drink whatever I wanted because I burned off the calories.

Now I am ill with Parkinson's I cannot exercise very much at all and have to watch what I eat and drink to limit any fat build up which is not nice but essential. I try to have my 5 a day. I don't drink alcohol any more and I have never smoked. Without the good foundation I gave my body I doubt that I would have long to live.

Kids today, or so it seems to me, don't exercise as much as I did in my early years or get involved in any other activities or do paper rounds or milk rounds?

If I see a kid in the street these days, he will be walking along looking at his phone, with his ear plugs in carrying a tin/bottle of coke. Ironically he will be wearing a track suit/trainers and football shirt.

Judging from my walking around this area with the dog on recycling day - most households have pizza boxes, coke tins, beer cans, wine bottles, cornetto boxes etc etc in their bins. None of them suggest the occupants have a healthy eating or drinking regime?

My conclusion is:-

Kids aren't getting enough exercise these day
Kids are eating/drinking stuff not good for them
Kids are mostly fat/obese
When kids get to age 50 they will be dead or a big strain on the NHS.

I'm generalising obviously, because some parents are responsible but the general trend is to be lazy and go for fast food rather than wholesome food options and allowing kids to be lazy.

Sugar Tax?

Just another way of generating government revenue but not much else - education on keeping fit/active and eating right/healthy would be a better solution.