Banning food on the bus patronises adults

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/10/banning-food-on-the-bus-patronises-adults

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Dame Sally Davies’ proposal to ban eating on public transport (Report, 10 October) is the latest example of a nanny state gone bonkers.

Because Davies thinks (rightly) that some people eat unhealthy quantities of food, she proposes to prohibit all of us – even those who are physically fit – from eating while on the tube or bus.

There is also a class issue here. Davies belongs to the upper-middle class, while obesity is largely (though not entirely) a problem of the working class and the poor. Her proposal belongs to a long paternalistic tradition in which the upper classes presume to tell the rest what is good for them.

Davies even makes the paternalism clear: her passionate arguments in favour of the ban concern obesity among children, but her ban would apply to everyone, mainly adults. Surely there are better and more respectful ways to promote healthy eating habits.Alan SokalProfessor of mathematics, University College London

• Dame Sally Davies, the outgoing chief medical officer for England, advocates banning eating on public transport. This would be completely impracticable. What about, for example, a family travelling from London to Inverness by train, a journey of eight hours. Are they to be expected to fast for the whole way? Presumably the buffet car would have to be withdrawn to prevent passengers eating en route.

Davies is also quite wrong when when she says: “It is now pretty normal to see people eating as they walk up the street. A couple of decades ago, it wasn’t.” Quite the opposite. It was common to see such activity in the past, whereas nowadays mobile phones have taken the place of food, for most young people at any rate.Nick ChadwickOxford

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