BODYWEIGHT is never out of the news.

Pick up a paper any day or look up websites and you are guaranteed to find a story on obesity or a tale about how thin a celebrity has become.

It's no wonder most of us have developed body issues.

The latest story was about Scotland's ever-expanding obesity crisis.

We all know this. Yes we're a fat nation. We eat pizza crunches, deep fried Mars bars - and now deep fried snow balls after an Aberdeenshire chippy brainwave - and pies during a football match.

We drink calorific pint after pint, munch black pudding for breakfast and sugary empire biscuits for our tea breaks.

It's safe to say that Scotland's diet has always been a bit stodgy but we weren't always this chubby.

The latest figures from the Scottish Health Survey show the average size for women is now 18, meaning we've grown a size in the last 10 years.

It's a significant increase from the aftermath of the Second World War when the national average was a size 10.

Last month, a story told us obesity is a greater burden on the UK's economy than terrorism.

Apparently we're sitting down too often, we're addicted to the telly and we're not eating our seven portions of fruit and veg.

But what do you expect?

As someone whose weight fluctuates, like many of my friends and family, I can tell you: keeping your size in check is so difficult.

Working shifts wrecks your eating pattern, junk food is too readily available and binge drinking leads to piling on pounds.

Modern living is a stress.

Even trying to find a casual gym without a contract and go to it regularly is stressful.

THESE fat scaring stories are not particularly helpful, though.

Especially when you see them running alongside photos of Victoria's Secret models, who to my eyes look like skin and bone.

It's not up to the media to sort out the so-called obesity crisis but is it really a crisis?

Couldn't we just all look at it in a different way instead of focusing on extremes?

I love this idea from the North-east: a family from Angus has won a deal to install a healthy vending machine at Dundee's Overgate shopping centre.

All workplaces and public spaces should look into this - I'd love to be able to buy seasonal fruit and veg from a vendor.

It would encourage me to cook more when I'm working unsociable hours and I might reach for a healthy snack instead of crisps.

When it comes to weight we need to avoid tipping the scales with extremes and find other ways of addressing the issue.