The fattest kids are in London

Some people up north and in Scotland might raise an eyebrow at the news, but the Office for National Statistics has declared London's kids the fattest in the UK. One in nine are obese by the time they join school - with no doubt many, many latestarters putting on the pounds when they get into the education system.

I don't know how the ONS compiled its stats, but my recent trip to McDonald's on the Walworth Road was all the evidence I needed. The place was choc-full of parents feeding their babies and toddlers french fries and McNuggets and Coke.

The place looked more like a creche than a restaurant - and for those parents it probably was. It didn't look like an occasional treat; this was daily life. I'm not judgemental about it, but you are going to get some porky kids into the bargain.

It's pretty much the case that being fat is the norm for kids in London. This isn't just down to a solid diet of fried chicken and MacD; it's also because they hardly ever move under their own volition. The mayor gives them all free bus passes, and so you find them using buses to go one stop, just like my arthritic grandmother used to do when she was in her late 80s.

In this sense, the London kid is at the vanguard of progress. Their Scottish and northern counterparts should demand the same rights to free transportation and then perhaps they'll have a chance to compete for the fat kid title on a level playing field. But I suspect the London kid will be the fattest in the UK for a long time to come.