Gone are the days when ketchup was considered a vegetable and kids' lunch menus didn't offer much beyond burgers and fries. Today, you're more likely to see veggie burritos or vegetable stir-fry over rice.
A recent survey by the School Nutrition Association, which represents more than 55,000 school food staff members, has found that more schools are offering an increasingly array of healthier choices such as vegetarian meals (up 12.4 percent since 2007) and lowfat prepared/packaged foods (up 11.5 percent since 2007).
Some of the encouraging nutrition numbers about school lunches reported in the survey:
The survey also found that ethnic options are also being offered at school cafeterias. As many as 99 percent of districts reported serving Mexican food and Asian entrees were offered in 81 percent of districts.