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A new agreement to take the junk out of snacks in the nation's schools will have a mixed effect on school districts in the Dayton region.

In an effort to reduce childhood obesity, former President Clinton, the American Heart Association and several major food companies announced a deal Friday to make school snacks healthier.

Under the agreement, most foods will be required to contain less than 35 percent calories from fat and less than 35 percent sugar by weight.

Dayton City Schools are less strict in their standards, said Steve Grundy, director of nutrition services.

The district follows the National School Lunch regulations, he said, which allow any food that has at least 5 percent nutritional value.

But Grundy said he's been moving away from candies.

"The only candy bars I might serve is a Reese's Cup because it has peanut butter," Grundy said.

"We have, however, gone from the large grab bags of potato chips and snack items to the single-serve bags of Cheetos and Fritos and Doritos, because of our wellness policy," he said.

Grundy called the agreement an "excellent" move. But, he said, "like anything else, it's going to take time to educate children on what's good and what's not good."

Several other local schools say they're way ahead of the game.

Officials from the Brookville and Troy school systems say they've already taken all snack vending machines out of their schools.

Brookville Superintendent Timothy Hopkins said his staff is working on a wellness program and promoting healthier eating habits among students.

When the district built its new high school, he said, it allowed only three vending machines — all for drinks. And the machines that offer carbonated beverages are shut during the school day.

"As far as the vending machines," Hopkins said, "we've pretty much nipped that in the bud."

Troy schools spent last year working on their wellness program, said Jill Wilson, who led the effort.

The district no longer allows any snack vending machines in the schools, she said. The high school has beverage machines that offer only water, fruit juices and sports drinks.

Centerville Superintendent Gary Smiga welcomed the agreement.

"I know everyone is worried about overweight and obese kids, and so are we," he said.

Smiga said the district several years ago took candies out of its vending machines and substituted healthier snacks like pretzels, baked chips and granola bars. But, he said, it's not always easy to find healthy snacks that kids want to eat.

"If this helps to create more interesting choice that kids will eat," Smiga said, "that's going to help us."