“in the vast majority of cases, fatness is a result of gluttony, usually combined with laziness” is a simple statement of fact. If you eat more food than you burn off in energy each day, you will gain weight. So ifs, buts or maybes: it is a fact.

If you burn off more energy in exercise than you take in as food, you will lose weight. Everyone knows these simple facts, they just don’t follow the discipline required to eat less or exercise more. Discipline is hard, and I know this from personal experience.

Since I gave up smoking 25 years ago, I have put on 1Kg per annum on average. If I get any fatter I’ll need my own postcode. Every year I set a new year’s resolution to lose 10 Kg. So far this year I only have 11 to go.