"But our tendency to accept what we're offered may have positive value when it comes to encouraging children to choose -- and eat -- more healthful food at school. A new report suggests that there's a simple, low-cost approach: Just offer it to them."

"That's the conclusion of a pilot program in Guilford, Conn., where school cafeteria servers were trained to ask elementary school students, "Would you like fruit or juice with your lunch?" Ninety percent of the children said yes. What's more, 80 percent then consumed the fruit or juice that they put on their trays."

"Compare those numbers with students at a nearby school who also participated in the study. At lunch, the same fruit and juice were available, but weren't personally offered to the kids. The difference? Just 60 percent of these students reached for fruit or juice on their own."

"These findings "have pretty significant implications," said the pilot program's designer, Marlene Schwartz, director of research and school programs at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. They suggest, she said, that if the National School Lunch Program were to modify its regulations and had servers actually encourage children to eat fruit and vegetables, their consumption might increase."

"It's that kind of simple strategy that school administrators, government officials and parents need to help stem the childhood obesity epidemic. An estimated 16 percent of the nation's children and teens are overweight or obese, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

"Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pays for 9 million breakfasts and 30 million lunches for students. But experts say the quality of some of those meals is in question. School cafeterias aren't required, for example, to serve food that meets the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines -- a situation the USDA says it hopes to change this year. The USDA also plans a multibillion-dollar effort to expand the consumption of fruit and vegetables served in school cafeterias over the next 10 years."

"But those changes don't address what many say is a major hurdle to improving school nutrition: the sale of so-called competitive foods in school vending machines, stores and snack bars, and at school fundraisers. There are no USDA regulations dictating the quality of these foods and beverages."

"To help close that loophole, Congress has commissioned the Institute of Medicine to write the first set of recommended guidelines for the sale of competitive foods in schools. That report, from an expert panel, will be released soon."

"At the Promise Academy in New York's Harlem, the nearly 700
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