There are some more ways to discourage your child from spending vast amounts of time in front of a screen, in isolation, and on her bottom:

- Limit the number of television sets: If you have a TV in every room, you are tacitly encouraging your child to slope off and watch TV on her own, which cuts down the amount of communication between a family and is the enemy of activity.

- Make family mealtimes sacrosanct: I know it’s hard when members of the family have different commitments and schedules to follow, but eating together at the table gives the whole family an opportunity to communicate and gives you a chance to control what food your child is consuming. Eating supper on a tray in separate rooms watching different TV programmes or DVDs is a bad habit to slip into. It promotes snacking and grazing because eating while watching becomes habitual.

- Lead by example: If you and your partner also grab meals on the run or in front of the TV, your kids will not see it as anything exceptional. Even if you meet some resistance on the family meals idea, you and your partner should endeavour to sit down and eat together – that is the greatest inducement for your kids to join you.

- No go areas for snacking: If you make a rule that snacks and drinks cannot be consumed in bedrooms, or outside the kitchen – or whatever works for your household – you are making it harder for your child to simply stay put on the sofa surrounded by comfort food and drinks and with no incentive to move.