The question is: /, / -

[Sped Tiger]

Could you tell me which way of punctuation is correct? I think the first option is correct, since the first part of the sentence is affirmative and the second is interrogative, in which case I think the only punctuation mark being able to help us is a colon.
1. The question is: is it healthy eating honeydew?
2. The question is, is it healthy eating honeydew?
3. The question is is it healthy eating honeydew?
4. The question is; is it healthy eating honeydew?

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't really like any of them. That's a general statement from me. I find it irritating when people feel they have to precede a question with "My question is". It's tautologous. It's needed only when someone has given you two questions and you're explaining which one you want to ask. In the example above, I wouldn't use any of your punctuation but I'd use quotation marks:

The question is "Is it healthy to eat honeydew melon?"

Not only does that mean no punctuation is needed directly after "is", but it also makes it clear that the question mark is part of the "honeydew" sentence, not part of the outer sentence.