There are many things that can affect your cholesterol level.

‘This will be fun,” I say to Gus, my husband, as I prepare to puncture his skin with a lancet to see if he is harbouring an evil chemical that might make him peg out with a heart attack before his time.

There are many reasons why schoolchildren are becoming fatter, less fit and less active: most are driven to school; they eat more junk food, consuming ever more fat, salt and sugar; parental fear means many young people stay indoors, and they devote more hours to watching TV and playing computer games than to playing sport.