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According to the data gathered by principal research author Dr. Julie C. Lumeng, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, children who wanted sugary snacks such as cookies rather than a salty bag of potato chips at a higher possibility of adding up excess weight, as cited by CBS News.

The study is drawn in more than 200 children belonging to working families as earning less than twice the federal poverty line. The mothers who were present during the testing had their children put on a one-hour diet prior to making available a generous amount of lunch which was then followed by a tray composed of both sugary snacks in the vein of chocolate chip cookies and salty bites similar to potato chips. The young test subjects were then told that there was no limit on how much they fancied themselves on eating.  

"If you notice when your child is one or two years old that they're really interested in sweet foods, that may be a signal that they were just born that way and you may need to be more vigilant in monitoring the types of food you have in the house, maybe a closer eye than with a different child or a sibling," Lumeng gave an explanation while pointing out that children have traditionally diverse curiosity for a post-lunch snack.

"There have been some studies that show there is genetics underlying that. But no one ever looked at it in kids this young," she added.

They made a conclusion in their study that if children have really singled out sugary food then a healthier alternative would be replacing cookies with fresh fruits, dried mango slices, and dark chocolates.

Being an overweight child, however, has long been associated with having overweight members of the family themselves. According to Patient, is has been believed that 5 out of 10 children with one parent being obese themselves will also gain much weight in the near future.