Apparently you can now by an over the counter version of a fat blocking diet aid. Great. When this pill was first released for medical use it was hailed as a potential road to a world of slim people. Until folk who took it starting shitting themselves that is. Often in public places. Which is never a good thing is it?

The problem with this drug is it stops fat being absorbed by the gut, but the fat has to go somewhere, so it goes out. Quickly, without warning. In your pants. Now obviously you should eat a low fat diet while taking the drug, but in that case, why not just eat a low fat, low calorie diet and get slim that way?

The 'secret' to weight loss is to use more calories than you eat. So if you want to eat three thousand calories you had better be fell running or swimming for miles, or having sex 15 times (if you do it right). if you want to be a fat blubbery bastard (which is the technical term for the obese) - eat three thousand calories and drive to work, sit a desk, drive home, eat in front of the TV and go to bed... to sleep.

But seriously. There can't be anyone who doesn't know this by now. As a teenager I could recite the calorie content of thousands of foods, and give a rough estimate of how much exercise I would need to burn them off (half an hour on a bike going uphill to get rid of a thin slice of chocolate cake). I was only a borderline anorexic, and that was in the eighties. Teenagers must be able to give you a calorie in/calorie burn estimate for each individual mouthul in these skinny-minny obsessed times?

It's not lack of knowledge that makes people fat, it's lack of motivation, lack of resources, lack of good role models. And lack of money is a big factor surely? You only need to look at the inhabitants of NYC compared to the fat schlubs elsewhere in America to see that plenty of money and lots of hope makes it easier to be skinny -and let's face it the fat bellied, big bottomed folk you see on our streets are not likely to be bankers, CEO's and aristocrats are they? Nope. Buying good quality protein and fresh veg (from Waitrose) costs. Twenty high fat ready meals from the Basics section of Lidl is cheap, cheap, cheap.

In my Scottish families little 'village' (actually a very large and very disadvantaged council housing estate) there are two supermarkets. One is the size of my lounge, the other specializes in cheap booze, dog food and freezer products. You don't get thin on the contents of this supermarket. And quite frankly if you give up eating and drinking in this sort of place, what are you going to do for fun? Theatre? Nope. Cinema - nope, shopping? Nope. Sports? Nope. Live music? Nope. You CAN do - drugs, drink (especially Buckfast wine), chips and custard creams.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't do anything about obesity, course we should. But if anyone imagines that a pill will do it, or patronising ads on the telly, or more 'information' they're being foolish. People need to enjoy sport and healthy activities for its own sake, they need access to good food, they need normal role models of sensible weights (who are not pilloried by fatuous magazine because they have a tiny muffin top) - they need a reason to be healthy. And we are not going to get that from a pill.