THERE are moments in life that we'd rather forget, but memories of them occasionally surface, inducing a flush of sweat and panic.

One such experience was when I got stuck in a jumper in the changing-room of a department store. I was about to go on my first (and, to date, only) ski-ing trip and went shopping for some suitable clothing. I tried on a fleecey top that was too tight, something I discovered once I'd put my arms in and tried to pull it down. Suddenly it was stuck, I couldn't pull it up or down and the more stressed I got, the hotter I became, making the fleece seem even tighter. As I wrestled with myself in the cubicle, I decided I had three options. I could rip the top and pay for it, leave it on and pay for it, or call for help. Each option would involve humiliation. In the end I managed to get it off without ripping it, but the memory still haunts me every time I go into a changing-room.

We've all done it. Tried on something that looks great on the rail, only to be mortified by the apparition gawping back from the full-length mirror. Then comes the skulking, when you hand the clothing back to a size eight shop assistant on the way out, muttering: "It's not really me".

I've come out of changing-rooms vowing never to eat again. And the self-loathing isn't helped by the rows of sweets that are now a fixture in women's clothing stores. Bags of colourful confectionery line shelves winding to the tills, presumably to encourage mothers already stressed from the changing-room experience to give in to pester power.

Gooey little animals, chew sticks and lollipops have no place in clothes shops, or indeed at any checkout. It's a shameless ploy by retailers to offload sugar-laden produce onto easy target young families. So well done to Tesco for removing sweets and chocolate from all its checkouts, including the racks of sweets at children's eye level. The move follows research that found families with young children have, on average, the least healthy shopping baskets. In study, nearly two-thirds of customers said removing confectionery from checkouts would help them make healthier choices.

It's time for clothes stores to follow suit, out of respect to all customers. If you make it to the checkout, the last thing you want to see is an array of sweets. These stores should be offering women a bit of "me time", they should be making us feel special and appreciated. Especially those of us stuck in the changing-rooms in clothing that appears to go down three sizes as soon as we try it on.