Our hateful micromanagement has covered everything from weekend sport to eating vegetables to simple household chores, and while we've not relented I, I'll admit, have been burdened by doubt and weariness from time to time. And maintaining what I'd see as the basic rules of civilisation has been a struggle in the face of allegations about ruining their life. Those rules have been as simple as ensuring that the bin lid is closed when you put rubbish in it, going straight home after school, getting home by 2am (if you're 18) and not eating in the bedroom. Indeed, just last night as I write this we were perilously close to a household rebellion simply because we insisted that the no-eating-in-the-bedrooms rule applied to our 21-year-old daughter. Especially, I would say, to our 21-year-old daughter.

Other persistent protests against our micromanagement are about being required to get out of bed before the afternoon, not spending days and nights staring at game screens, and eating dinner as a family.

The Queensland researchers say they're trying to determine if parents' attempts to give their kids more structure and safety and a better education were of benefit or ultimately robbed children of a sense of responsibility. And I have wondered the same. I know children who've grown in homes very different from mine, in homes where there seemed to be no or few rules, little control and a "what happens happens" attitude, and in most cases these children have emerged as fine young adults.

Certainly the laidback approach must be easier than micromanaging or even just managing. I don't know which is better. Do you?

See how Jeff and the biggest losers are going at the Lose Weight with Corbett blog.