Oh hello! Here's a little study that I am certain many parents are going to shake their collective heads at when it comes to the published results. First, this study is based on a questionnaire so I am not at all convinced there are hereditary genes at work -- simply because the researchers did not do an under-the-microscope study to find out if there are genes, and identify which ones, affecting our food preferences.

From my understanding, I believe genetics are a primary determining factor in what we do and do not inherit. I could be wrong. In the meantime, I am standing by my initial concept of genes in the role of heredity. Back to food preferences.

According to the researchers, who gave parents of identical and non-identical twins a questionnaire listing 77 foods divided into four categories -- meat, fish, desserts, and vegetables and fruit -- asked them to rate their children's likeability for each of the foods listed.

When the researchers pooled the answers, they came to the conclusion that the taste for meat and fish is inherited, while the taste for greens is a matter of choice and is determined by our upbringing. In other words, as a parent, if you want your kids to like, and eat, their fruits and veggies, you must provide ample amounts of each in the daily diet. Which would lead the reader to the conclusion that if your kids don't like greens, it's because you didn't provide them with greens -- or you somehow influenced their preference with your attitude towards fruits and vegetables.

Sorry, but I don't think this is going to fly with most parents. The truth is, you can have nothing but greens in the house, and your kids can go on a literal hunger strike before they will eat what they don't want to eat. In the growing-up-years, taste is ever-shifting when it comes to food preference and what is hated one year is loved the next.

For example, as a kid, I hated asparagus and sauerkraut. As an adult, love both cancer prevention foods. My mother was adamantly opposed to refined white sugar. When I became a mobile teen with a little money in my pocket, guess what I did? Went to the corner store and bought sugary sweets anytime I could afford them. Consumed them with great pleasure. Spent more than a few of my young adult years enjoying many refined white sugary foods. Until, of course, with enlightenment, I became my mother and opposed to refined white sugar.

It's just common sense and a very good idea to have lots of fruits and vegetables around because more will eventually get eaten that way. Its a sound way of doing all you can in cancer prevention when it comes to what your children eat. If you have a bowl of crisp apples your kid is likely to grab an apple. If you keep a bowl of individually-wrapped Twinkies around, your kid is likely to grab a Twinkie. Like I said, it's just common sense. And while we might carry genes that affect our food preferences in all groups of food, I don't know how we can inherit food preferences for just meat and not greens. It's somehow contradictory to basic logic.