To think you can't ban food on trains?

[poshme]

In today's times (sorry rubbish at links) there's an article saying the outgoing chief medical officer wants to ban food on trains unless for medical reasons.
AIBU to think this is completely stupid & unworkable?
Apparently it's because we're snacking too much & too many children are obese.

I regularly catch trains with my kids- usually a 3-4 hr journey. Invariably it's a meal time, and part of passing the time is eating a packed meal. Yes- it's not the healthiest meal in the world & includes crisps & chocolate, but as part of a normal diet it's fine.

My kids are not overweight. In fact they're generally underweight.

If this is implemented they're never be able to enforce it surely?

*but I regularly see people drinking it on public transport.

Is there no such thing as personal responsibility these days?!! Pathetic!!
If I stuff my face and become obese, then that’s no ones fault but mine.

Stupid, unworkable and throw away comment from an outgoing civil servant.

Cue the usual 'chomping, stuffing, troughing, snaffling, gulping' comments that appear on every food/eating thread on MN.

banning workplace snacking and dining al desko would also help

Many places no longer have a kitchen/place where employees can eat. Also the weather in some spots in the UK isn't very 'get out for a leisurely lunch' conducive and not everyone wants to or can spend money buying lunch out every day no matter how cheap it is.

And the "local train" thing doesn't make sense. Trains aren't local. You might only take a train a few stops but there will be others who are travelling the full length of the train's route. So how would this work. Anyone only on the train for 4 stops or less, no food for you, and anyone on for longer can eat away? Who's going the try to enforce that! The poor conductor, oh wait, most trains don't even have conductors!! She really hasn't thought this one through.

if they want to get serious about the obesity problem make obese people for their heath care directly i a healthy person is fed up of funding their unhealthy lifestyle through the nhs

Don't make unhealthy food more expensive, make healthy food cheaper. Don't ban eating on trains, make healthy foods more available on snack trolleys and station platforms. Ultimately, snacking is not the enemy

Absolutely this.

Food was not permitted on public transport where I grew up. The bus driver would indeeed throw people off @BarkandCheese. But at an absolute maximum you’d be on the bus/train for an hour.

One of the reasons it's rubbish is it says breastfeeding would be exempt but not bottle feeding !? Would people rather be stuck on a bus with a screaming hungry child than let them have their bottle!? Madness

As an aside i went for a health check this week and was told I am now classed as obese on the BMI scale, but I am a UK size 12.

I know I have a menopausal middle but according to the rest of my health check I have excellent cholesterol, no risk of diabetes, excellent blood pressure and very low risk of heart disease.

Do I seriously need to be a size 6 or 8 as I am now obviously adding to the NHS obesity statistics 🤔

I know the discussion has moved on but eating and drinking on the underground and on buses is banned in Hong Kong ( and also Singapore I think) so it can be done. It’s actually nice as keeps the trains/buses less skanky.

I live in Scotland. My father lives in Devon. I'd not be able to eat for 8 hours or more under those rules if I go to visit.

Why, @batvixen123? The proposal is that this should only apply to urban transport. By no stretch of the imagination is a journey between Scotland and Devon urban.

Nelly325, it's pretty obvious that if this ever did come in, baby feeding of any type would be exempt.

And the "local train" thing doesn't make sense.

That's probably why the proposals say "urban", not "local".

if they want to get serious about the obesity problem make obese people for their heath care directly i a healthy person is fed up of funding their unhealthy lifestyle through the nhs

Because no obese person ever pays tax, do they? I'm childless. I don't want to pay for your maternity care. I also don't want to pay for injuries that people acquire doing extreme sports, or through drinking too much.....

Of course, I'm being totally unreasonable, but so are you.

So many people seem to be saying why snacking is necessary when for most people it shouldn't be necessary to eat between meals. We just don't need to eat all the time

Perhaps we don't need to but I like grazing, and I'm a size 8. I am sitting here eating a bag of cherry tomatoes like sweets. It depends on what you are snacking on, no?

Well, if we don't do anything to curb this we will all suffer eventually as the NHS crumbles under the pressure- just think of the costs of decades of diabetic medication!!

TheRealMrsGrissom BMI has nothing to do with dress sizes, which are set by clothing manufacturers. Obesity is defined by height- weight ratio. You don't have to be any specific size to not be obese.
I'm generally in favour of this, especially in relation to takeaways on buses. I would also prefer to see bans on food inside cinemas, and the reintroduction of workplace canteens and staffrooms, and proper meal breaks so that no one is permitted to eat at their desk.
I would also make a lot of other changes, such as restricting new fast food outlets, especially near schools,an hours physical exercise for all school children every day, and many more.

It might be relevant. I'd have to be built like a body builder to get into a size 12 if I were obese.

Re my desire to see a worldwide ban on crisps, I’m so sorry for making some of you sad, I really didn’t mean to.
My issue is only because they are very much favoured as a snack in public. When I become prime minister/president/king/world dominator, I would allow the consumption of crisps in private or in company of other crisps eaters - I would go as far as setting up crisps eating hubs dotting around the streets, a bit like bus stops but for eating crisps. Still debating if apple eating should be included but on the basis that it takes less to eat, there’s no rustling of packaging and doesn’t smell, I would still allow that in public

Outgoing CMO Dame Sally Davies is a control freak who has no background in public health.

metrorider, non alcoholic are available to children as opposed to alcoholic drinks. Just a small thought in a sea of possibilities. A girl can dream...

And buses. I regularly go between two jobs at lunchtime and eat my (healthy) lunch on the bus. I was on a coach for 7 hours last week, I needed snacks!

It’s complete nonsense and will never happen. The Government is embarrassed by the proposals but are being polite.

The proposals have zero credibility. Who creates a list of ideas to fight childhood obesity without mentioning increasing exercise at schools? If children were allowed to run around as much as they need to at school, obesity wouldn’t be a problem.

Eating on the hoof never used to be a thing. Growing up in the 1960s, we used to get off the school bus in the city, and head straight into the sweet shop to stock up for the train which was the next phase of out journey home.

And every Sunday we would come out of the swimming pool, sit on a branch of a large cedar tree, and eat a whole chocolate bar.

Less of a litter problem then because everything was paper wrapped, plastics were few and far between. And the only "fast food' joints were fish and chip shops, with very restricted opening hours.

Portion sizes have increased hugely - look at the size of a piece of cake (or "gateau" as we would have called it then), or a cup cake compared with the fairy cake it replaced.

stayathomer I went to the corner shop on my lunch break but no Clubs so I had to buy a Twix instead!

branster a genuine question about the non alcoholic drinks. I appreciate they are available to children but why should adults have to go without? I don't want to have water all the time and I certainly don't want artificial sweeteners as they taste vile so I like my full sugar Coke now and then.

DH says it won't be long before it's kept behind the counter and a klaxon goes off when you buy it!