Most schools regularly send schedules of cafeteria menus home. With this advance information, you can plan on packing lunch on the days when the main course is one your child prefers not to eat.

Try to get your child's school to stock healthy choices such as fresh fruit, low-fat dairy products, water and 100 percent fruit juice in the vending machines.

Each 12-ounce soft drink contains approximately 10 teaspoons of sugar and 150 calories. Drinking just one can of soda a day increases a child's risk of obesity by 60 percent. Restrict your child's soft drink consumption.

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics

In 2005, 94 percent of all public schools in the United States had some kind of Internet connection in at least one classroom. That's up from just 3 percent in 1994. In 2005, 45 percent of those schools with Internet access used wireless connections, an increase from 32 percent in 2004.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics report, "Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms, 1994-2005."

PAYING FOR COLLEGE EDUCATION

FEDERAL GUIDE EASES FINANCIAL AID PROCESS

The U.S. Department of Education has released a guide to federal student aid for students and their families looking to fund a college education.

Published by the Department's Office of Federal Student Aid, Funding Education Beyond High School provides an overview of the process for applying for federal student aid as well as detailed steps for taking action during each phase. The 41-page guide addresses such topics as types of federal aid, basic eligibility requirements and loan repayment information.

The guide also has a glossary clarifying financial aid terminology and a complete list of state higher education agencies.

For a copy of the 2006-07 guide, recommended for college students, go to www.edpubs.org or call (877) 4ED-PUBS, with identification number EN0648P.

The 2007-08 version, suggested for high school students, will be available in December at www.studentaid.ed.gov.