Kids Meals

Photo: Kelly Cline / Istock

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How to get children to eat healthier foods is an ongoing debate. In the past year alone two new cookbooks were published (and a lawsuit filed) that feature ways to render vegetables unrecognizable in kids' food so that Junior will eat them.

But what role should the school lunch program play? Some counties in Colorado think they can do more, according to the Rocky Mountain News, and some schools there have adopted "healthy" vending-machine policies, gotten rid of fryers from their kitchens, and are providing students with more options.

However, school and nutrition officials can't make the decisions for the students, and one pointed out that it doesn't matter how healthy the fare is if the kids won't take it. A dietician pointed out it's just as important to talk about what to put in the lunch, as it is to talk about what to take out (baked chips are better, she said, but they are still chips).

Meanwhile in Atlanta, grade-school kids were taste testing new healthy lunch options, and rating the fare with frowns or smiley faces. They'll have to wait until next year to see (and eat) which items made the cut.

If you pack your own kids' lunch, check out 5 Days of Healthy School Lunches for ways to make it a healthier meal.

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