We love meat and fish if our parents do but our liking for fruit and veg is decided in early childhood, research has found.
The evidence suggests that parents must actively encourage children to eat fresh produce from an early age, rather than hoping they will copy their own good habits.
Cancer Research UK scientists performed the study to determine why some children are more prone to obesity, which increases the risk of cancer.
The team studied some 200 pairs of same-sex twins to observe whether food appreciation is inherited.
It found that while genes seemed to have a bearing on the taste for protein, they were less influential in determining a taste for sugary foods or fresh produce.
Lead researcher Jane Wardle, of Cancer's health behaviour unit, said: “This is the first study to include significant numbers of protein foods and the first to show high heritability for these.
“But it is not clear exactly what environmental factors are influential when it comes to fruit, vegetables or puddings.”
Wardle said children may follow their parents behaviour, enjoying vegetables or sweets in the same way, or that they may be conditioned into liking certain foods if they are readily available.
“For instance, if a fruit bowl is always full of bananas, then children might think of them as being a favourite food,” she added.
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