There's lots of uproar these days about the state of lunches offered at school. Parents, teachers and even celebs are upset that there aren't healthier options available to kids, and it's mostly blamed on a lack of funds. But according to a report from Newsday.com on kids in Long Island, there's more to it than that: most kids simply don't like eating healthy food.

And while younger kids are held captive to what their parents give them or what the cafeteria serves, older kids are ditching the healthy school meals and heading to nearby fast food restaurants to pick up the junk foods they're craving.

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Proper nutrition (or lack thereof) in schools s a hot topic these days -- parents, teachers, celebs and even some health-conscious kids are fed up with the amount of junk food available and the amount of healthy food not available in places of education -- so much so that they're doing something about it.

Take the Los Angeles Unified School District -- years ago, they bought a TS4 Sushi Robot with the intention of getting kids to eat healthier. Now they're finally putting it to use at Santee Educational Complex. The machine will be used for educational purposes in culinary classes, and the sushi produced will be featured in the school's student restaurant.

It's too bad the machine wasn't used sooner, but it's great that healthy sushi will be made more available to these kids. Maybe every school should have a sushi robot -- and a salad robot, a whole-grain sandwich robot, a fresh fruit and veggies robot ... well, you get the picture.

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With a kindergartner in the family, we officially entered the realm of elementary school this fall. Though I couldn't be happier with the school we chose for our daughter, I couldn't help be feel disappointed when the first school lunch menu came home. It read like the school lunch menus I used to bring home, all those years ago: hot dog, pizza, meat gravy, chicken nuggets, repeat. I was really hoping for something more nutritious.

My kids will carry their lunches, so problem solved for us. But for far too many school children who depend on free and reduced lunch, these kinds of meals are their only option. My daughter's school is currently running a survey to improve their school lunch menu, and I'm hoping for a positive change. Maybe we can look to some of America's healthiest schools for inspiration.

Take the winner, West Babylon Senior High in New York. They've completely revamped their cafeteria to include a lighter lunch menu, lost their fryers and replaced them with high-tech ovens, and open their cafeteria back up after school for kids who are participating in extra-curricular activities. There's a school-wide commitment to fitness, and P.E. classes focus on making exercise fun and accessible. Even school fundraisers include healthy foods ... no candy! There are several other schools highlighted by CNN, so if you're looking for ways to make your own child's school healthier, look no farther than these inspiring schools.

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Recent research shows that when elementary schools ban soft drinks, the improvement in kids' health is minimal.

Schools who have removed soda vending machines have done so in an effort to improve student health. But research shows that fifth graders who attend schools where soda is banned consume only 4% less than students who have access to soda at school.

As far as I'm concerned, 4% is 4% is 4%. It may be a small improvement, but it's an improvement none-the-less. And since soda bans are relatively recent -- starting in 2003 in California -- I think time will still tell. It takes time to change kids' tastes and preferences. Parents just have to get on board, too, and save soda for the rare treat or avoid it altogether.

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Just pulled an elementary school newsletter from my kid's backpack and as always, there's a blurb about health featured on one of the pages, not too far from the print-out of the cafeteria lunch menu, in all of its unhealthy glory -- corn dogs, country fried steak, and pepperoni pizza are some of the school's staples. I guess I can't have it all -- a healthy newsletter and a healthy lunch menu. At least some of what comes from school is nutritionally sound.

Don't reward kids' good behavior with food, says our school PTA -- especially not candy, soda, and other sweet stuff. These rewards produce short-term behavior changes and long-term health implications. The folks at the Action for Healthy Kids Virginia say to use the following prizes for your pint-sized ones -- they'll inspire good behavior over the long haul and might result in better school performance too.

• Read a favorite book together.
• Play a challenging board game together.
• Take a special trip to a museum or park.
• Listen to music of your child's choice -- and dance.
• Work together on a project of your child's choosing.
• Play an outdoor game together -- try a water balloon toss or snowball toss, hide-and-seek, or tag
• Create a treasure box of small items, like stickers, pencils, and sidewalk chalk, and let your well-behaved kiddo choose a token.

Or, you could reward your kids by allowing them to pack their own healthy lunches -- no corn dogs that way.

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I remember back when I was in high school (what my son would call the "olden days"). When my friends and I finally scored drivers licenses and cheap used cars, we smelled freedom. Almost every day we'd escape the school's cafeteria and go out to lunch. We wouldn't go home or bring healthy, packed lunches to an off-campus spot to eat. Instead, we'd hit one of the fast-food joints downtown. It was a terrible habit to get into -- unhealthy and expensive.

Not too many years from now, my son will have the same freedom. We live practically next door to the local junior high and high school. I hope, when he has the freedom to leave school grounds at lunch, he opts to come home more often than not. I'd rather have him leave fast-food as an occasional treat, and choose healthful foods more regularly. (Though, if he brings home several teenage friends for lunch, my grocery bills will skyrocket!)

I just read an article which proves that students going out to lunch is a health decision parents and schools worry about around the globe. Short of preventing high school students from leaving the school campus, all we can do is teach our kids the importance of good nutrition from a young age. Then, hopefully, when they're old enough to do so, they make good choices.

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Four of my nieces and nephews are heading back to college this weekend. None of them are freshman this year, but I've certainly noticed changes in all of their health since they went to college. When they were freshman, two of them gained weight by eating too much cafeteria food and not exercising. The other two went on a major fitness kick and really overdid it -- getting far too thin for their frames, consuming lots of unnecessary and potentially unhealthy powdered protein drinks, and ignoring good nutrition.

Maintaining proper health is a challenge for college kids when they first move out on their own. Making poor choices or overeating at the cafeteria, late-night binges, poor sleep habits, and alcohol consumption are just some of the reasons that college freshman don't score an "A" for health. In addition, a lot of high school students play team sports -- when they go to college and that organized activity is gone, their fitness level drops as well.

Healthday offers some tips for avoiding the Freshman 15 (though, according to Jacki, it would be more appropriate to call it the Freshman 5):

• Know your class schedule and plan for healthy foods in between classes. (I remember having a tight time crunch in between classes one year when I was at school. On those days, lunch consisted of a candy bar. When I found the candy bar didn't fill me up, I started buying two. Nice. A much healthier and more economical choice would have been to pack a snack -- like whole-grain crackers and cheese along with a piece of fruit -- in my backpack.)

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School cafeterias are getting healthier and healthier. They may not be perfect just yet, but progress is certainly apparent.

According to a blurb in the November 5, 2007 issue of TIME magazine, about 19 percent of schools noted in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report offered French fries in 2006, compared with 40 percent in 2000. Vegetable sales increased from 51 percent in 2000 to 71 percent in 2006. And junk food in vending machines was prohibited by four percent of school districts in 2000. In 2006, 30 percent nixed the junk.

Fitness pursuits are also on the rise. The percentage of districts requiring elementary schools to teach physical eduction increased from 83 percent in 2000 to 93 percent in 2006. And fewer schools are allowed to punish kids with push-ups, which associates exercise with pain. How about recess? There's improvement here too. In 2000, 46 percent of elementary schools required recess, compared with 57 percent in 2006. Sadly, though, the percentage offering intramural sports has not changed since 2000.

A lot has happened in six years. But is it enough?

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In Britain, celeb chef Jamie Oliver took on atrocious school lunches with admirable zest, changing what kids eat at school for good. And according to the show Shaq's Big Challenge, the same needs to be done in North America. School lunches consist of really unhealthy items -- think pizza, fries, breaded chicken nuggets and so on. Salad? What salad? I didn't have a cafeteria in the school I went to but lunch items that they sold at the school included instant ramen noodles and pizza pops. The closest thing to a vegetable on the menu was potato chips. Yuck.

So Shaq sent in another celeb chef, Tyler Florence, to improve lunchtime. And while this is a great idea for the school portrayed on TV, what about the other millions of kids eating lunch at school? Parents, pack your children's lunch. They may not like it, but it will make a difference in the long run. It did for me anyway.

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