By Matt Leingang
Enquirer staff writer

Suzy McBrayer and her children Billy, 4, and Molly, 7, eat a snack as they put together what a school lunch would be like. Billy is allergic to most prepackaged foods and eats fruits, vegetables, and soy products. His sister Molly drinks soy milk because she's allergic to milk products. (Craig Ruttle/The Enquirer)

Jane Boback has advice for parents who want their children to eat healthier foods at school: Be a good role model at home.

"Set a good example, and it will rub off," says Boback, a community nutritionist with the Nutrition Council of Greater Cincinnati, which works with schools to promote healthy habits.

The percentage of overweight children ages 6-11 more than doubled from the late 1970s to 2000 - from 6.5 percent to 15.3 percent - according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. During the same time, the percentage of overweight adolescents ages 12-19 tripled, from 5 percent to 15.5 percent.

The obesity problem is complex. It's due partly to lack of exercise, partly to poor eating habits.

At school, the issue is not necessarily with school lunches, which must meet federal guidelines for calories and nutrients, Boback says.

Instead, the bigger enemy is cafeteria a la carte lines that regularly serve pizza and burgers. Vending machines also lure kids.

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Parents must set some limits, Boback says. Tell your children that they are allowed to go a la carte one day a week - that way, kids feel empowered and feel free to make their own decisions, Boback says.

Being a good role model at home helps promote good decisions at school, she says.

Food directors say they are trying to steer kids in the right direction.

"We offer a lot of vegetables, steamed entrees and fresh fruit, but these aren't the items that kids tend to want," says Tom Martin, regional food manager for Sanese Food Services, a contractor that provides cafeteria food for Madeira and Mariemont schools.

"We feel that a lot of kids pick up their eating habits at home, which dictates how they eat when they are away from home," Martin says.

Students returning to school this fall will find some new strategies to promote healthier eating habits.

Madeira and Mariemont students will be offered more salads and fresh deli selections.

Also, the fat content and carbohydrate content of each meal will be posted in cafeterias, Martin says. "Making students more aware of what they are eating might help enlighten them to be more choice conscious," he said.

Elsewhere, healthier foods are coming to Kings Local Schools' cafeterias through the work of the Kings Nutritional/Fitness Committee.

Cafeteria candy sales will be discontinued. High-fat-content potato chips will be replaced with a low-fat version, fresh fruit and vegetables will appear more often on a la carte menus, and french fries will be offered fewer days.

E-mail mleingang@enquirer.com