EXERCISE is like a dog, not just for Christmas and upon retirement, but starts almost from the first day you are born and should be nurtured and encouraged by parents, schools and the like, to enable future generations to maintain fitness.

There are many young adults who will, after a lifetime of travelling by car to work daily and sitting at an office desk in front of a computer, think that when it comes to retirement, their body will respond to physical exercise like a new car engine. Not so. It takes many years of perseverance to develop immunity to bad health in later life and a sensible diet of good wholesome food, preferably home cooking will help.

Regular exercise in moderation does not have to entail attending expensive health fitness centres. Walking down to the local shops with a pet dog or grandchildren in tow, followed by a spot of gardening, will suffice.

Having given you good advice and outlined my past sporting prowess, it is time for a light lunch and a walk down to the local hostelry to contemplate where I went wrong.

Kenneth Bowker, Vesper Walk, Huntington, York.