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Might be related to the childhood preference for sweet foods - apparently Red Delicious has high amounts of sugar, relative to other apple varieties. For example, 14.8% sugar for "Early Red" variety[1], vs 10.4% average over all kinds[2]. Maybe this is enough to explain it?

[1]. http://www.researchgate.net/publication/49591548_Composition...

[2]. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1+apple

This is maybe not inconsistent. Kids like Kraft macaroni and cheese and Hotdogs covered in ketchup. We shouldn't expect kids to like "better" foods if they haven't developed a palette yet.

Marketing?

My kids nag me to buy "cheese product" which is like cheese but 10x the price (OK I'm exaggerating, it's 5x - cheese is already the most expensive single item of food we buy), tastes like plastic and is marketed in a kid-friendly way.