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?

Unenforceable. There simply aren't the resources. They can't stop the "excuse me ladies and gentlemen, sorry to trouble you blah blah blah" beggars: in theory they're not allowed, but many of us see them every day, and they use the forbidden doors between the carriages.

It's the sort of thing nanny-state politicians like to talk about, with their paid-for-on-expenses meals. But for many busy working people, sometimes the commute is the only bit of time in the day they get for such necessities. Politicians often don't understand working people's realities like that.

"Eating on the street" was absolutely frowned on where I grew up in the late 70s and 80s. Everyone was thinner.

On our network, the guards are laughably "essential" but you can actually never find one.

I'd love to know how this idea is to be policed!

'I don't think you should ever need to eat outside a house or a restaurant, unless its a picnic or a really really long journey. It's perfectly possible for most healthy people to not eat for 4 hours'

Maybe we can get round this by having specially designated 'eating times' on public transport. Most of the time- NO EATING.
And then- the driver will announce 'this is a designated meal time- you may now eat- as long as it is smelly, or noisy, or disturbs anyone, or contains any fat, salt or sugar'

Oh come on, its not referring to long train journeys. Most of those trains have buffet services anyway. I can't say ive ever noticed masses of food being consumed on buses etc but i do think something needs to be done. Im not outraged by the idea.

how the hell would that work-phone the police everytime someone geta kitkat out

There are few local train services outside of London. My local service goes 2 1/2 hours in one direction. The local one that I used to use in Birmingham is now replaced by a long distance service that stops at about 20 stops.

I have a 3 hour commute (each way). If I didn't eat on the train I'd miss breakfast and dinner most days. It's the only time I have to eat! I get home and go right into bathing my dc and putting them to bed. Surely, all the mindless snacking is not happening on trains and buses. It's happening when people plop their kids in front of the tv or a computer game for 4 hours every afternoon. But anyway, this sounds like the sort of thing thought up by someone who probably has a driver and a private car to get him to and from the office every day...

In terms of smelly foodstuffs, I'd rather coffee was banned than anything else! Stinks. Especially on people's breath. Considerably more offensive to my nose than apples, takeaway or any of the other things mentioned. But we don't get to decide what people around us can eat and drink.

It's a foolish proposal from the CMO.

I don't think it's enforceable, but it might reduce food on the train which seems like a great win for everyone except the considerable numbers of takeaway food shops in train stations.

It does seem like a very good idea. The weight situation in this country is absolutely shocking.

I don't really understand it. Is it supposed to create shame around snacking and make people feel bad for it?

If it was implemented and people followed the law, I think kids would just eat their after school snickers and can of coke at the bus stop instead. Seems a strange tactic.

Yanbu.
Ban the smelly food instead.

Guards on trains and bus drivers have enough to deal with with fare dodgers, drunks and antisocial behaviour.

It's perfectly possible for most healthy people to not eat for 4 hours

possible, yes. desirable, no. I'll eat when I want to. And what I want to.

Watching the report on the BBC this morning it seemed to be aimed mostly at tackling childhood obesity. I live right by the bus stop which serves four local secondary schools, the shops around here do a roaring trade morning and afternoon in junk food sold to school children. Stopping children from buying six donuts or a family sized bar of chocolate or those huge cans of energy drink and consuming them on the way to school would be a better way to go.

people on my commuter train are generally pretty fit looking, not obese. And why shouldnt they chomp on an apple if they are hungry?

She'd be better off talking to the NHS. My IL's get free sandwiches given to them when they visit a hospital in wales for appointments......even though they both have diabetes. And i thought the NHS was hard up?

I can't see how it's enforceable and what about diabetics? What about young children on long journeys? My ds5 has rice cakes to help him with his travel sickness - will they fine us for that?! Pregnant women with morning sickness? I had to eat dry crackers on the train to stop being sick. And are they going to ban feeding babies too? Where do they draw the line?

It's a completely flawed idea and I don't see how on earth it will help prevent childhood obesity either?!

They have BMI testing in reception years at school. Why don't they identify the overweight children and instead of sending just a letter out, invite the parents and the children into the school to attend a workshop or something, to focus on working with those individual families rather than putting blanket bans on the majority.

Ridiculous and unenforceable.

People need to eat if they are taking a long journey. The alternative would be stuffing ones face before the journey starts- hardly conducive to healthy eating!

We should be encouraging people into public transport.

For me, these badly thought out political statements are a signpost towards people who don't live in the real world and should not be running our country.

I saw Sally Davies being interviewed on Breakfast tv. She appears to have a genuine concern about the rise of childhood obesity and diabetes. She was talking about local transport such as local bus services, not long distance trains. On my local bus route there are regularly people eating McDonalds, KFC etc. It's unnecessary on a route that is no more than 1 hour end to end if taking the whole journey, which most aren't.
Her aim was to reduce people eating on the go. No-one will starve if they can't eat on a local bus journey.

I was on an expenses paid rail trip recently so went first class. I was horrified at the amount people ate. I don’t go on the train very often and didn’t realise that food and drink was free in first class. The man next to me saw me not eating and advised that I should eat the food to get my money’s worth... Some people were asking for crisps etc and putting them in their bags. I was really shocked at the greed.

It's local journeys only. I think it's a good idea. Would reduce cleaning costs for the buses/trains too and the revolting smell of kebabs and burgers.

Only if we can ban eating in cars too, otherwise it's just another value judgement on obese people being people who use public transport.

I'd rather we just didn't get further into a Nanny state tbh.

I usually have a cup of coffee (in a reusable cup) and a cereal bar on my way to work. I manage to do this without any crunching, slurping, chomping or lip smacking to which PPs refer. In fact, as a commuter, I come across quite a few people having drinks/breakfast on the train, and I've never come across anyone chomping anything or slurping anything! Where is this world where people are unable to eat and drink normally? Very odd.

If you read the article it refers to LOCAL public transport ie short journeys to work, school, shops etc. It's trying to do away with the idea that we can't possibly survive 20 or 30 mins without a snack.

But realistically it won't be policed. It's not practical. Giving a toddler a banana if they're hungry is a world away from a teenager scoffing a mars bar on the bus home.
Plus many commuters eat a healthy breakfast in their commute. I often have organic peanut butter with grapes on wholemeal bread as my breakfast.

Maybe they will bring in Fat Git carriages , like the old Smoking carriages, on trains. If you’re a fat git, you are herded onto it and frisked to ensure you haven’t concealed a fruit pastille in your pocket and then you’re locked in for the duration. They play Rosemary Conley and handpicked Superior Being Mumsnetters lectures on a loop and people on the platform will be encouraged to throw rotten veg at us and boo as we disembark. Thinner types will sit in the other carriages either nibbling on dandelion leaves or congratulating themselves on their moral superiority whilst admiring their own thigh gaps.

I’m off to buy a doughnut. Not working really, is it, Sally Davies?