Bind a checkbox from value in database

I would like to bind a single checkbox, so that on page load, the current value in the database is retrieved and the checkbox set. But I am finding surprisingly weird and difficult ways of doing this, including using a gridview. Surely there must be a simple way of doing this? I am halfway there - I already have a routine to handle check_changed and update the database. But checking the checkbox according to the database value seems much harder!
Can anyone please provide a suggestion?

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