Sugared drinks ban not so sweet for restaurants
Baltimore announced on Wednesday that sugared drinks will now be banned from kids’ menus throughout the city.
The Baltimore City Healthy Kids’ Meals Bill was passed in April, and will be put it into effect this week. Restaurants who fail to comply with the bill will be fined $100. Although parents will still be able to order sugared drinks for their children, this act still goes a long way toward curbing unhealthy beverages.
Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen stated:
“Passing a law that creates healthy environments is within everyone’s best interests, and so there are no drawbacks to having healthy options as the default option. What parent doesn’t want their child to drink healthy for the most part? When I was a kid, drinking soda was a treat. You didn’t drink it on a regular basis. And our hope is actually that parents start thinking about how it really should just be a treat and can be a treat when they want it to be a treat. Not something that is always in their face.”
According to experts, this act will certainly help to increase the health of Baltimore children. A Harvard study discovered that consuming one sugared beverage a day can increase the chance of obesity in children by 60 percent. 33 percent of Baltimore’s children are obese, but this bill may help to curb that percentage.
However, the bill still has some opponents. Many restaurants have expressed their frustration with the bill, explaining that they will need to raise prices on meals if they can no longer make money from sugared drinks. The bill could cause some restaurants to exit the market, and it will also increase consumer costs.
Nevertheless, this bill is great for health in Baltimore, and it will likely open doors to similar movements in big cities throughout the nation.
Featured Image via Flickr/poolie
