YOU SAY

I’m a little old lady who’s a size eight, but when I was at primary school in the 50s I was always the biggest child in the class. So the letter from your reader with the tall, overweight eight-year-old struck a chord (Dear Coleen, May 18).

I always loved food, hated sport and was inclined to put on weight, so at 11 I was 5ft 6in and had the body of a 16-year-old. When I left school I was 5ft 8in and weighed 12st.

I used to go on diets with my mother, but I realise now how little we knew about nutrition. It was never suggested I should take up sports outside school, but fun exercise was the key for me.

There’s so much available now – dance, martial arts, climbing walls. I still do dance and Tai Chi classes and people tell me I look fantastic. Jenny, via email