According to the Centers for Disease Control, about one-third of all Americans are obese. More than 22 percent of Texans are obese. That may not come as a surprise, but in Johnson County, the latest numbers from 2008 suggested more than 29.3 percent of adults over the age of 20 tip the scales into the obese category, and the eating habits of Mom and Dad are being passed down to children.

In June, First Lady Michelle Obama and Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack introduced the new food icon, MyPlate.

MyPlate was created with the idea that it would be easier to follow than the antiquated Food Pyramid, deemed too complicated for quick understanding.

Plates should be full of half vegetables and half fruits, paired with lean proteins, whole grains and low-fat dairy, Obama said. The MyPlate icon is a familiar-looking place setting, which the government hopes will serve as a reminder to families to eat healthy.

Changes in local school cafeterias are slowly taking place as students are offered more nutrition-rich options than in the past. Johnson County school cafeterias are offering more fresh fruits and vegetables this year, which nutrition directors hope will pave the way for healthier children.

Lunch prices rose by a few cents in several districts because of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was signed by President Obama in December 2010. The act raised the number of students who qualified for free and reduced price lunches and set new nutritional standards for student lunches nationwide, leading to the higher prices.

Susan Dollar, food services director for Rio Vista ISD, said the school district has posted the MyPlate icon in their cafeterias and is complying with whatever the U.S. Department of Agriculture asks.

Dollar said prices rose in RVISD cafeterias, partially because of the fruit and vegetable offerings. Lunch prices rose 25 cents across the RVISD district.  

Grandview ISD did not have to raise lunch prices this year, but is offering more nutritional items.

Becky Irvin, director of nutrition services for GVISD, said the district is offering both canned and fresh fruit and salads everyday. Cafeterias also offer a sandwich plate that consists of a wheat bun, turkey, lettuce and baked potato chips.

This year, GVISD switched to sweet potato fries instead of the traditional russet potato style.

“We are doing ‘try a new fruit day,’” Irvin said, which will begin in October. Students will have the opportunity to try fruits, like kiwi, that they may not have access to at home. To avoid wasting fruits that students may not like, they are only being offered a bite of the “new” fruit, Irvin said.

Alvarado spokesman Tommy Brown said, to his knowledge, AISD has not had to raise prices either.

Healthier food options are not necessarily more expensive, he said, and students are being offered more variety in fruits and vegetables.

“Changes we’re supposed to make, we’ve always made,” he said.

Brown said more changes are expected to come in January.

Keene ISD, like other county districts, has switched to non-fat versions of flavored milks. One percent white milk is the only milk with fat in it, said Ella Smith, food services director.

Smith said dressings and mayonnaise offered by KISD has been fat-free for several years now, and the district is offering a wider selection of fruits and vegetables to comply with new federal standards.

Lunch prices rose from $2 to $2.25.  

“That may not be the end of it,” Smith said regarding the 25 cent increase. She said the district has plans to offer more nutritional food in the future and a price increase could come with them.

Venus ISD also had to raise its prices to offer healthier choices. Elementary school students now pay $2.10 for lunch; middle school students pay $2.35; and high school students pay $2.60.

VISD Child Nutrition Director Tina McCormick said the district is gearing up to offer more whole grains to its students.

“I had to make sure I worked that into my budget,” McCormick said.

Like other districts, VISD may have to increase the price in its school lunches as policies change.

Cleburne ISD Child Nutrition Director Kim Chance said CISD has made an effort to offer fresh fruit every day for several years and is making strides in offering more fresh vegetables. The district is trying to be proactive about more changes coming next school year.

“Take the apple, don’t take the apple juice,” is something Chance tells CISD students. She said the district will have to make changes in fruit/juice ratios and sodium levels next year, along with other county districts.

CISD had to raise its school lunch prices 15 to 25 cents to be in compliance with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. Because of that, Chance said the district now offers free lunch to any student at any grade level.

Chance said she has worked to make salads eye-appealing and said it’s a matter of “putting it out there” and making the food look good to eat. That’s what gets the students to eat the healthier options, she said. But, she added, it’s not that easy. Students still choose what they want to eat, even with a plethora of fresh options to pick from.

“You can’t make them eat it if they don’t want it,” she said.

In compliance with federal law, CISD is also working on ways to cut sodium from school lunches for the 2012-13 school year.  

One school district ahead of the trend is Godley ISD.

Food Service Director Penny Chesshir said the district put a salad bar in the high school.

It’s been a big hit, she said. Sales from the salad bar amount to 25 percent of food sales at the school.

The district has attempted to cut as much sodium as possible by cooking mostly from scratch and has limited starch servings to one time per week.

“We’ve gone to fat-free whole grain cookies and the kids don’t even know it,” Chesshir said with a laugh.

GISD had to increase lunch prices by 10 cents at one campus, but prices stayed the same throughout the district otherwise, she said.

Most Johnson County schools plan to lower sodium and sugar levels in all cafeterias in January to comply with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Calls to Burleson and Crowley ISDs were not returned as of press time Monday.