Partners
Sugar Smart Coalition
Making healthy choices easier. Sugar Smart Coalition partners with schools, restaurants, childcare providers, and community organizations to reduce added sugar consumption and improve access to healthier food and drinks.
Initiatives include:
Provides a ready-to-use campaign that helps families choose healthier drinks and reduce sugary beverage intake. Developed by the Sugar Smart Coalition in partnership with Michigan State University Extension, it encourages water as the go-to choice.
Get a ready-to-use toolkit with social media posts, posters, and newsletter content you can start using right away.
Originally designed for Head Start and early childhood partners, it’s now available to organizations serving families with children ages 0–5. Learn more in the section below!
Click here to get the toolkit with free downloadable materials for your organization!
Making healthier snacks and drinks the easy choice in vending machines. They offer nutrition standards and practical tools to support healthier vending options in schools, workplaces, and community sites.
In partnership with Ingham County, Michigan, they helped develop and pass the county’s Health Vending Policy (2023), establishing standards for nutrition, product placement, and labeling.
We are seeking to partner with schools, hospitals, workplaces, and local businesses to
expand access to healthier vending. Contact them to learn more.
Healthy Default Drinks on Kids’ Menus
Partnering with local restaurants to replace sugary drinks with healthier options—making the healthy choice the easy choice for families. Local restaurants like El Azteco West, Olympic Broil, and Fiesta Charra Eastwood have already made the switch.
Healthier default drink options include:
Water (plain or unsweetened)
Milk (plain, low-fat or fat-free)
100% juice (no added sweeteners, limited to 6 oz)
We support participating restaurants with:
Simple menu updates and guidance
Ready-to-use promotional materials
Recognition as a healthy community partner
Healthy Drinks, Healthy Kids
With so many choices, it can be confusing to know which drinks are healthy. ACD, Sugar Smart Coalition, and MSU Extension have partnered to bring you information on how to reduce sugary drink consumption and help set your kids on the path to healthy growth and development. Learn more by following us on Facebook and Instagram, and by opening the links below.
For more information, visit: https://healthydrinkshealthykids.org/parents/
Can you guess how many teaspoons of sugar are in Cody's glass of pop? Watch as MSU Extension Community Nutrition Instructor Cody McLaren shows us just how much added sugar can be in sugar sweetened drinks. He encourages us to rethink our drinks with healthier options.
The information in the campaign materials is supported by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views shared in the Healthy Drinks Healthy Kids campaign do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.