No Soda for Kids? Colorado City Targets Popular Drinks With New Law

Chalk this up as another win for health in Colorado.

Or, as others might say: Another win for the nanny state.

The government fight for Americans’ health has focused squarely on sugary beverages over the last decade as soda taxes gained national headlines. Mre recently, state and local governments have targeted sugar-filled beverages as a part of children’s meals.

Colorado cities adopt beverage marketing bans

This week, the city of Louisville joined the list of Colorado cities that ban soda and sugary beverages as the default drink sold with a child’s meal.

The ordinance requires marketed beverages to be water with no added sugar or dairy or nondairy milk with no added sugar.

The local law does not ban soda sales, as customers can request another beverage. The marketing mandate goes into effect on April 1, 2025.

Lafayette, Longmont, Golden and Denver have laws similar to Louisville’s Healthy Drinks in Kids’ Meals Ordinance.

Denver’s rule goes into full effect July 1, 2025.

Davis, California, became the first city to adopt such a sugary beverage law in 2015. Soon after, states, including California, Delaware, Hawaii, and Vermont, mandated healthier options on children’s menus.

Why health agencies target sugar beverages

Boulder County Public Health has made education about unhealthy beverages and the adoption of such ordinances a priority, citing facts such as:

• Sugary beverages are the main source of added sugar and excess calories in children’s diets.
• Children who consume one or more drinks a day are 55% more likely to experience overweight or obesity.
• Sugar-filled beverage consumption leads to a 33% more likely chance of developing heart disease and a 25% more likely chance of developing diabetes.
• One in three children born in the year 2000 or later will develop Type 2 diabetes

RELATED: Colorado Town Bands Sale of One of Nation’s Most Popular Beverages