BOSTON -- Parents might like to think their kids choose snacks like carrots, apples, and water at school. It's more likely that they grab chips, cookies, and soda.

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Some Massachusetts schools are hoping to encourage healthier habits by offering healthy choices, WCVB-TV in Boston reported.

Kids learn about the food pyramid in health class, and then are tempted by snack foods in vending machines -- machines that can bring in thousands of dollars to financially strapped schools.

"If we're teaching kids about making healthy choices and then don't provide them that option, it's still going to hit our bottom line because they're going to go elsewhere," said Mary Ellen Dunn of the Natick, Mass., Public Schools.

Now, students at Natick High and in five other area towns won't have to go further than their cafeteria for healthier alternatives.

The New Hampshire-based Stonyfield Farm company is sponsoring a pilot project that puts vending machines in schools. The machines are stocked with products that are low-fat, low-sugar, or organic.

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"We're not saying organic is the solution to obesity. We're saying the kinds of health offerings that we've put here are reallly superior to the foods that are next door," said Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm.

All food at Natick High is being overhauled. Some vending machines are on the way out. Foods offered now must meet nutrition guidelines and pass a taste test from the harshest critics of all, the students.

"Everything is going to have a little bit of sugar and salt because they don't want them to be bland, but they don't taste bad and they're definitely better than what we used to have -- all the corn chips and everything," said senior Robbie Williamson.

The foods offered may be healthier, but too much of any good thing can pack on pounds and increase a child's risk of diabetes and other health conditions.

"We have to walk more, we have to snack less, we have to eat more protein and more calcium and less saturated fats," said Hirschberg.

Stonyfield is offering schools a small stipend for carrying the vending machines and the food inside is subsidized so it remains affordable for students.