Baltimore bans sugary drinks from kids' menus (CNN)

Thursday Jul 19th, 2018

The Baltimore City Healthy Kids Meals Bill was signed by Mayor Catherine Pugh in April but went into effect Wednesday. Restaurants will be limited to offering children's meals with flat, sparkling or flavored water with no added sweeteners; milk or non-dairy alternatives; or 100% fruit juice. Parents can choose to order other drinks for their children, however. Baltimore's health department will enforce the law through its inspection process, and those restaurantsfound violating it could face a $100 fine.

"The number one killer of both men and women in Baltimore and around the country is heart disease," Wen said. "That's fueled by high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. I'm an emergency physician, and it used to be that I treated only adults with these problems. Now, I'm treating children who are 8 years old and weigh over 200 pounds. I see teens as young as 13 years old who have high blood pressure and adult-onset diabetes."

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When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

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