A NEW survey has shown 41 per cent of Britain’s parents admit to bribing their children all or most of the time in a bid to make sure they eat their five-a-day.

A total of 22 per cent of parents admit to hiding fruit and veg in their child(s) food at least once a day, in a survey by children’s snacks and treats company Fruit Bowl.

Meanwhile, 13 per cent of parents have spied their child trading the fruit and veg in their lunchboxes.

The survey also revealed which fruit and vegetables parents struggle to get their children to eat the most, with avocado (19%) topping the charts as the most hated or refused fruit, closely followed by figs (18%), grapefruit (16%), pomegranate (12%) and kiwi at 11%.

Unsurprisingly, sprouts are the most disliked vegetable mentioned by parents (36%) with a further quarter (25%) answering asparagus and cabbage, followed by 24% of parents mentioning spinach, broccoli and onion. The top excuses for children not eating their fruit and veg include not liking the taste (54%), texture (25%) or smell (21%).

Looking to favourites, the survey showed that over half (52%) of Britain’s parents consider apples as one of their children’s top 10 favourite fruits, closely followed by Strawberries and Bananas, with the top 10: Apple 52%, Strawberry 51%, Banana 49%, Grape 44%, Orange 30%, Melon 28%, Raspberry 26%, Pear 26%, Pineapple 24% Satsuma 24%.