Frankly, the fact is that I think parents have a huge influence on their kids eating habits.  After all, you can control what they eat, and the healthiest people I’ve seen had parents who literally forced healthy food on them, even though it has recently been proven that kids’ taste buds are actually different.  It’s good for them to learn a little diversity while young so when older and when things taste descent, they are more inclined to choose those foods.  But you cannot just lead by example.  I’ve know this forever.  I mean they don’t always follow everything you do.  Now only providing healthy options obviously doesn’t really give them a choice.  But a recent study at Bloomberg School’s Center for Human Nutrition measured the eating habits of children, and they found that without this force, 10% of children’s eating habits could be attributed to what parents were eating on their own.  Apparently they thought that just by the parents eating more good food, their children would automatically catch on.  This is definitely true.  A friend of mine had a kid who loved junk food despite the fact that she would only eat healthy food, and she was always worried.  But they went on a trip to China where all his options were vegetables and other healthy foods, and it was only that which really changed it for him.