Nutrition and public‑health advocacy organizations supported the Act for Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures (House Bill 2468 / Senate 1571), telling the committee that chain restaurants and schools are important settings for improving children's diets. Representatives of the American Heart Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest described provisions that would require clearer labeling of added sugar in chain‑restaurant kid's meals, set nutrition standards for kids' meals, and restrict sugary‑drink marketing in schools.
"Children in the U.S. consume far more added sugar than recommended," said Eva Greenthal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, noting that a typical child fountain soda can contain 40 grams of added sugar. Witnesses said the bill aligns with successful local and municipal initiatives, cites evidence from New York City's sugary‑drink warning icon pilot and urged the committee to move the bill as a population‑level prevention policy aimed at reducing chronic disease risk in childhood and later life.