Rhode Island Lawmakers Push for Major Changes to Restaurant Kids’ Menus

Several Rhode Island lawmakers have filed legislation requiring restaurants with children's menus to offer meals that meet specific nutritional standards.

What the Healthy Kids Act Requires

WPRI-TV 12 reported, "The Healthy Kids Act would require all 'kids' meals' to include two of the five food groups: fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, protein, and whole grains."

"The act also looks to make the default beverage something other than a sugary drink, like milk or water," the station reported.

Which Restaurants Are Impacted?

According to the legislation, the rules would apply to all eat-in and take-out restaurants in the Ocean State, "including, but not limited to, drive-through or walk-up counters, coffee shops, cafes, pizza parlors, and dine-in establishments," but not school cafeterias.

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Childhood Obesity Rates in Rhode Island

The legislation states that "Thirty-five percent (35%) of Rhode Island children are overweight or obese," and that "Forty percent (40%) of children in Rhode Island's core cities are overweight or obese compared to thirty-five percent (35%) of children in the remainder of the state."

According to the legislation, "Forty-one percent (41%) of Latinx and forty-one percent (41%) of Black children in Rhode Island are overweight or obese compared to thirty-two percent (32%) of white children."

Industry Pushback and Next Steps

WPRI reported the bill's sponsors have "received pushback from the Department of Health about the challenges of enforcing it, as well as from the hospitality industry concerning the cost to restaurant owners."

The Healthy Kids Act has been introduced three times in the Rhode Island General Assembly before and has gone nowhere. The bill is currently before the Committee on Health and Human Services.

The bill's sponsors have proposed that the legislation take effect on January 1, 2027, if it ever finds its way out of committee.