The saying goes that ‘inside every fat person there’s a thin one trying to get out’. But inside one of my thin friends there’s a fat child – herself, between the ages of eight and 18.

That was the decade when her weight ballooned, when furtive chocolate binges meant her thighs rubbed together and when changing for PE became a torture for her.

This being the era of The Goonies, she became known as Chunk, the character who famously did the ‘truffle shuffle’: lifting up his shirt to wobble his belly. And yes, she was teased many times to do the same.

One day in biology class my friend – then 12 – was learning about body mass index (BMI). Along with her classmates she was required to measure her height and weight before chalking up these figures on the blackboard. She still burns with the humiliation of it.

The sense of self she developed then – ashamed, alienated, embarrassed – has never left her, even though she is now slim.

She might be a successful 50-something with no need for Spanx but inside she’s still Chunk. The weight was shed but not the feelings attached.

Being overweight as a child can make it hugely difficult to be healthy in adulthood – with 80 per cent of obese adolescents becoming obese adults. And it is now alarmingly common. By the time they reach the last year of primary school, 22 per cent of children are obese, with a further 13 per cent overweight.

Obesity in children is alarmingly common. Being overweight as a child can make it very hard to be healthy later in life – with 80 per cent of obese adolescents becoming obese adults

This is both a national crisis and a disaster for the children – which is why we should hear out the scientists who are advocating weight loss medication for those as young as six.

A new study led by the University of Western Ontario in Canada analysed weight-loss trials involving 756 overweight children between the ages of six and 17. Children using older GLP-1 drugs for obesity (rather than diabetes) lost 11lb (5kg) on average, while those taking semaglutide – which we know better as Ozempic and Wegovy – shed on average an astonishing 2st 12lb (18kg). One of the academics, Dr Manpreet Kaur Oberoi, said the medicines were ‘significantly efficient in lowering the BMI, weight, heart rate and systolic blood pressure and in improving quality of life, while maintaining a manageable safety profile’.

Surely – if the benefits outweigh the risks – this must be considered for children suffering from the mental and physical problems that come with obesity.

I know many readers will reel in horror: ‘What kind of society have we become when we’re considering jabbing young children to lose weight?’ But reality is telling us extreme measures are needed.

In England alone about 1.2million children are ‘significantly obese’. They will struggle to lose weight as they get older, since excess weight during formative years establishes permanent fat cells and hardwires neural pathways. If that ‘puppy fat’ does hang around, they’re facing a lifetime of health problems: heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, joint issues – not to mention crushingly low self-esteem, problems with relationships and potentially an inability to work.

I know, I know: it’s the parents’ fault. We see children who are overweight and immediately assume the parents weaned them on Greggs sausage rolls.

I can’t help judging myself – but I also feel a lot of sympathy for fellow parents in 2026, because it’s harder than ever to avoid calorific temptation. Those in their 60s and above talk in misty-eyed fashion of childhoods spent playing outside for hours, stealing an apple from Farmer Giles’ tree by way of a treat – meaning they were all thin as whippets.

While it is a parent's job to tell children 'no', mother-of-four Clare Foges admits she struggles with this. Those who treat their kids with sugar to make them happy shouldn't be sneered at

But that was then. Now, most parents wouldn’t dare let their children out of their sight for fear of muggers or paedophiles. Now a lot of playing fields are gone and the youth clubs closed. Now there is 24-hour kids TV, not the two hours a day we had in my childhood. And now each supermarket trip offers an unimaginable smorgasbord of treats, from KitKat cereal to Krispy Kremes: crack cocaine for young palates.

Yes, it’s our job as parents to say ‘no’ – but as a mother who sometimes struggles to say it myself, I feel for those who can only treat their children with sugary things.

It’s all very well for middle-class mums to sneer at the sugar-pushing feckless parents but if you’ve got money for trips to Legoland or the seaside or new toys, you’ve got other ways of making your child happy. What if all you’ve got is a few quid for an ice cream?

Besides, what does it matter if it’s the parents’ fault? Some might say it’s abusive to let your child get fat but we’re not going to start banging people up for that, are we?

Some will say we should educate parents more but we’ve done that to death, through numerous public health campaigns such as The Eatwell Guide, Change4Life and Better Health.

Against the temptations of ultra-processed food – which is cheap and easy and everywhere – the education strategy just doesn’t work. So what do we do for our 1.2million obese children, aside from throwing our hands up in the air? I vote for a strategy that has already proven to work: weight-loss injections.

Of course the idea of medicating young children is uncomfortable. And of course it shouldn’t be for children who are just a little plump.

But for those like my friend – who still bears the scars – it could be the intervention that doesn’t just change their life but saves it.

Mel C is the bride, Geri, not you!

Spot the bride. With both Geri and Mel C in long white dresses at the latter’s wedding, it’s not easy. 

I know Geri wears the same colour every day because she says that way ‘everything matches’, but surely she knows you don’t wear white out of respect to the bride? 

Mel C reunited with her former bandmates – Mel B, Geri Halliwell-Horner and Emma Bunton – at her wedding last week. But did Ginger Spice's white ensemble upstage the bride?

While her floor-length number was pretty, wearing it was plain rude.

My tedious three-hour Odyssey

I went to see The Odyssey this week, fawned over by critics as the most amazing film since the invention of celluloid. While it was good in parts, nearly three hours is just too long for any film. 

Frankly, by the end I didn’t care if Odysseus made it home or not.

The Odyssey, featuring Matt Damon and Zendaya, was good in parts but, ultimately, did not live up to the hype, Clare Foges says

One in five people lie about their height on dating apps – particularly men, since they think many women will only want tall partners. But there’s a basic flaw in this ruse, when into the bar walks not a six-footer but Ronnie Corbett. Having been attracted to men of varying heights in my dating days, I would tell shorter men not to fib. Simply market yourself online as ‘fun-size’.

While I wish Holly Willoughby every success with her new YouTube show, I doubt many will tune in. We British will overlook many sins, but jumping a queue, as the former This Morning TV presenter did for the Queen’s lying in state? Unforgiveable.

Mums have a right to peace, too

In France they are turning all sorts of spaces into child-free zones: hotels, restaurants, even train carriages. Their Human Rights Commission has just published a report sounding the alarm about this ‘worrying phenomenon’. I don’t know. As a mother of four noisy children I get the need for adults-only spaces. Yes, children should be seen as well as heard – but what about our human right to have a coffee in peace, too?