"If you build it, they will come" is a quote from a much-loved Hollywood movie. Okay, we changed it a bit. The actual quote is "if you build it, he will come". In the movie, the protagonist, Ray Kinsella, builds a baseball field in the middle of a cornfield in rural Iowa. Everyone thinks him crazy or a fool, but Ray is convinced that if he builds a baseball diamond on his land that it will right an old wrong.

In the end, the players use the field for the simplest and most obvious reason of all: it's there! Now we will oh-so-subtly segue to the obesity epidemic. Since 1980, the obesity rate for children in the UK has trebled! On obvious explanation is that we are no longer investing in public parks. We are no longer building parks and playgrounds to which the children can come.

Lecturing children on eating habits and the dangers of too many video games is one thing. But it is time to put our money where our mouths are. Words don't cost a thing. But blacktops, jungle gyms, and baseball diamonds do. Click to see more here.

Blaming the schools for every pound our children put on is nothing short of an abdication of our parental responsibilities. The schools cannot and should not be blamed for the rise in childhood obesity. After all, most children eat two out of every three meals at home.

Parents can make a difference in the health of the kids in their community by making sure they have somewhere to play and have fun. They might not consider it exercise, but it's good for them.