At Chinese New Year, children receive hong bao, money in red envelopes that has probably increased because of the family planning policy.

We in the West are led to believe that a generation of obese, spoilt little emperors are making their way through their Chinese childhoods with the granting of every wish and a road to adulthood paved with chocolate.

But bringing up my son in China, I haven't noticed that his classmates are any more spoilt or misbehaved than their Western counterparts. Indeed, the phenomenon we are supposed to find in China is actually growing in my own backyard.

On a recent visit to the UK, I was shocked by the accumulation of "things" these British tots have.

A bedroom with walk-in cupboard stocked so full that a large shelving unit had to be installed in the lounge to accommodate all of the pre-school child's treasures.

Unopened toys, still in their original packaging, line the bedroom walls and floors of one family's five-bedroom house. The dining room has been transformed into a "playroom" so the new sleds-full of toys from Santa can be squeezed in.

One of my friend's 11-year-old sons has not one, not two, but three mobile phones - and an iPhone. Another iPhone-wielding 12-year-old's mother later informed me he had been subjected to some graphic pornography through not knowing how to use the thing, and through her own ignorance of how to implement parental controls.

It then transpired that parental controls were impossible to implement. Great toy.

The UK's little darlings now have PSP and DS games machines (whatever they might be) and portable DVD players to keep them amused if they are in the car for more than half an hour.

Are our children now so used to being stimulated for every waking moment by bleeps and flashes that they cannot be satisfied with a 10-minute chat?

On the ferry to our island destination, it was impossible to ignore the gift shop. A $15 rubbishy plastic toy that might be fiddled with for 10 minutes is deemed essential travel baggage.

They're getting fat, too. I witnessed hardly any proper meal eating, it was all chocolate, crisps, milkshakes and whatever else keeps them quiet.

The parents plead poverty. And the families I talk about are not wealthy. They are the average middle-class type with mortgages, credit cards and mounting debt.

I always worry I spoil my own little emperor.

A visit to the UK that had been penciled in to coincide with his cousin's birthday has now been postponed so he doesn't witness the torrents of toys his 4-year-old relative will receive. I wouldn't be able to bear the claims of unfair treatment by his penny-pinching single mother, when he remembers she bought him just five presents on his birthday.

At the risk of sounding like an ancient from a pre-industrial-age world, I can't help asking what happened to guessing and drawing games, and, please don't strike me down with a Star Wars lightsaber, books?

I know our children have to get online and up to date if they are to stand a chance when they graduate. But they also need creativity, innovation and good old-fashioned exercise.

In the UK, it's not the children who need a hong bao. I may be giving out a few to the cash-strapped parents instead.