Learn to love vegetables

Getting kids to eat their greens can be a problem but new research shows that even kids who turn their noses up at their greens can learn to love them. Scientists from Cancer Research UK have shown that a taste for vegetables is learnt rather than inherited. They studied over 200 pairs of young twins to try and work out if taste preferences are inherited or not. Twin studies are useful because identical twins share all the same genes – so any differences in food preferences must be due to upbringing. The twins were fed foods from four groups: ‘Vegetables’, ‘Fruits’, ‘Desserts’ and ‘Meat and Fish’ and the results showed that the taste for meat and fish is determined to some extent, by the genes, whereas the taste for vegetables, fruit and deserts are more determined by environmental factors. In other words we learn to love these foods, so keep putting the broccoli and peas on their plates and make sure the fruit bowl is full!

_{Breen FM, Plomin R and Wardle J. 2006. Heritability of food preferences in young children. Physiology and Behaviour. 88 (4-5) 443-447.}