Denver council voted to ban sugary drinks from kids’ menus: Does research show it helps?

DENVER (KDVR) – Starting in July, families could see changes on kids’ menus in Denver.

The city council voted Tuesday night to ban sugary drinks from being listed in the bundled kids’ meal menus. The new ordinance would require the drinks listed on a bundled kids’ meal menu to be healthier options like water or unflavored milk.

The measure now heads to the mayor’s desk.

“By promoting those healthy options like water or unflavored milk we are really instilling those healthy habits at an early age,” said Samantha Volk Jennings with the Public Health Insitute at Denver Health.

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She said the law would not take away a customer’s choice. Families could still order any beverage they want,

However, research done at Walt Disney World after a similar change found that most people chose from the default options.

“What they’ve found is that when a healthy option is listed as the default, 66% of the time parents choose that option,” Volk Jennings said.

Funding is available to help restaurants cover the cost of reprinting their menus.

Experts say drinking sugary beverages can increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, tooth decay and heart disease. Denver Health experts hope this ordinance will lead to continued healthy choices and a reduction of health risks for all communities.

“We really do see this is a health equity issue, kind of removing this advertisement and promoting those healthy choices for all of Denver’s youth,” Volk Jennings said.

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In Colorado, similar policies are already in place in Lafayette, Longmont and Golden. Boulder County has also promoted businesses that have removed sugary drinks from their kids’ meal menus.

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