It's no secret the country has an obesity problem. But Ohio is taking steps to change that, starting with children. Senate Bill 210, which goes into effect Sept. 17, is aimed at addressing a growing need. This law places tough restrictions on beverages in schools and vending machines from kindergarten to 12th grade, even banning the sale of some items…[and] requires better teaching of nutrition and physical activity benefits and requires schools to calculate the body mass index, or BMI, of its students.

Seems like everyone - from politicians to TV chefs - wants to make over school food programs. But even advocates concede that major changes can't happen overnight. When it comes to what’s going on in the school cafeteria, industry experts agree that turning this battleship will require commitment, money, and, perhaps more than anything, the will to make it happen.

More Santa Rosa County first-, third- and sixth-graders are slowly moving into the normal range for body mass index. Since 2007, the normal body mass index ranges for students in these grades have gone from 60 percent to 72 percent, showing a slight but steady increase, said Debbie Price, nursing program specialist with the Santa Rosa County Health Department.

Regulators' appetite for calorie counts is about to extend beyond restaurants to thousands of other places that offer food, including airplanes, movie theaters and convenience stores.

Steve Frabitore can't escape the challenge of getting kids to eat healthy. As a father of four boys, age 11 to 21, he's waged his fair share of food fights in his home kitchen, trying to make sure his clan grows up strong eating nutritional meals instead of their junk food cravings. He takes his battle plan to work with him, too. As a restaurateur, Frabitore is also concerned with making sure the pint-sized diners at his Tupelo Honey Café locations have nutritious and delicious meals.

Name a snack food that's neon orange and makes a loud crunch when munched. If you picked Cheetos, the nation's biggest producer of baby carrots wants you to think again.

Harold Wingood is out to turn a food desert into an oasis, build community gardening skills and save Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering six figures a year while doing it.

Local health officials plan to reach children with messages that will encourage them to develop early healthy eating and exercise habits. The South Wood County YMCA will begin a fitness and nutrition effort at local after-school programs this fall to combat childhood obesity.

In Idaho, five school districts have been selected by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and Idaho State Department of Education to serve as pilot schools to implement Farm to School programs and help create best practices for other schools to follow who want to begin Farm to School efforts.

Children and youth across Connecticut have the opportunity to become “Health Heroes” by learning about childhood obesity, designing programs to address it and implementing the programs in their communities. UnitedHealth HEROES is a service-learning, health literacy initiative designed to encourage young people, working with educators and youth leaders, to create and implement local hands-on programs to fight childhood obesity.

King-Danforth, Jones, Bernd and Burdell-Hunt elementary schools in Macon are part of a new three-year health project the school system is launching. Students from those schools walked with the superintendent at various times Tuesday. The system hopes to teach students at these high-poverty schools about nutrition and fitness, train their parents to live healthier and allow teachers there to start wellness programs together.

For area residents, Foodlink's stand might be their only encounter with fresh produce all week. "It's close and it's reasonable. You can save a dollar here," said Calvin Moore, 56, a neighborhood resident. "And it's good vegetables and good fruit."

Many chain restaurants and vending machines would have to display the number of calories in their food for consumers under draft guidelines released Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announces it will award $1 million in grants for eligible high-poverty schools to start community gardens.

Chocolate milk has emerged as both villain and victim in a cafeteria drama that pits the milk industry, administrators and parents against one another.

Pediatricians, public health experts and school administrators are divided as to whether the nutritional benefits of flavored milks outweigh their sugary downside.

A local coalition of Delaware County organizations wants to put their money where your mouth is. Healthy Living Take Charge! was created to tackle one issue only – obesity – taking steps to lower the county's high obesity rates among adults and children.

First it was the Pop-Tarts. Then the french fries. Then the nachos. And this year, another school lunch staple got the ax. "We're not serving any chicken nuggets," said a triumphant Carol Kon, the food service director for the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District. "We're the first to do that."

Among the items debuting on Houston-area school lunch menus this academic year: yams, Brussels sprouts, acorn squash, edamame and bok choy. Sushi, Cuban pork tacos and spinach salads also will be served up as some area school districts try to meet increasing pressure to offer more nutritious school lunches.

Behavior changes won’t work on their own without seismic societal shifts, health experts say, because eating too much and exercising too little are merely symptoms of a much larger malady. The real problem is a landscape littered with inexpensive fast-food meals; saturation advertising for fatty, sugary products; inner cities that lack supermarkets; and unhealthy, high-stress workplaces.