Baltimore bans sugary drinks including soda from kids’ menus this week in an effort of fighting childhood obesity. Baltimore became the first largest city in the United States and the first on the East Coast to officially bar sodas and other sugary drinks from kids’ menus in city restaurants.

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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.

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odas and other sugary drinks are no longer an option on children's menus in the city's restaurants after a new regulation went into effect on Wednesday, according to reports. 

Baltimore is the first major city in the U.S. to take the action, NBC News reports. Several smaller cities have passed similar ordinances.

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Restaurants in Baltimore are now officially barred from including sodas and other sugary drinks on kids' menus, according to a city ordinance that went into effect Wednesday.

Baltimore is now the biggest U.S. city and the first on the East Coast to pass this kind of measure, said Shawn McIntosh, director of the Maryland chapter of the Sugar Free Kids advocacy group. Seven California cities and Lafayette, Colorado, have enacted similar ordinances, according to health officials.

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The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) was named the 2018 Local Health Department of the Year by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). The annual award recognizes local health departments for outstanding achievements in innovative public health and safety improvements.

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A Baltimore law took effect Wednesday requiring restaurants to include non-sugary drinks as the default option in kids’ meals.

Baltimore is now the largest American city and the first on the East Coast to implement such a measure, which is aimed at improving city children’s health.

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Baltimore has become the first major city to prohibit restaurants from including sugary drinks on children's menus.

The measure, which went into effect on Wednesday, is intended to promote healthy habits in young children and their families by making the default kids' menu options water, milk and 100 percent fruit juices.

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Dr. Leana Wen fills in for Nicholas Kristof, guest authoring his New York Times newsletter and discussing the Trump administration's Conscience and Religious Freedom division in the Department of Health and Human Services.

"The ostensible aim is to protect the right of health care workers to opt out of procedures that they have religions objections to. The government issued regulations to expand that right so that all of the above scenarios could be justified based on the provider’s religious beliefs. There is now no requirement to inform the patient of why care is denied or to offer a referral to someone who can provide it."

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Last weekend, I had the honor to speak at the UnidosUS 2018 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Formerly the National Council of La Raza, UnidosUS is the United States’ largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. Other speakers included heroes and partners in our work in health and justice: Bryan Stevenson (Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative); Cecilia Muñoz (Former Director, Domestic Policy Council, Obama White House); Chad Griffin (President, Human Rights Campaign); and Sherrilyn Ifill (President and Director-Council, NAACP Legal Defense Fund).

Baltimore has extended the Telehealth Intervention Program for Seniors program in the Park Heights community, hoping to reduce emergency room and hospital visits and emergency room visits.

The telehealth program remote monitors vital signs and social services for low-income adults over the age of 60.

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