it's not the Chineseness of the food but the amount of food we consumed along the way!!! lol
When I was younger(probably up till my teens or later), I preferred western/other cuisines to chinese food. Especially fast food or western bfast/corn flakes, or roti pratha.
It wasn't until I was getting my own lunch after school that I started learning to appreciate chinese dishes (but still meatballs n veg with rice tho) later on I appreciate Kwang tung Chao(cantonese wet hor fun) or hokkien noodles or even fried rice/koey teow-i could do a mean zhao fan/hor fun in my teens/twenties(but only if I didn't hv to buy the ingredients myself-kitchen/fridge had it or I would eat out/parents work so after school/weekends I'd fend for myself if I didn't go out)
Even now budget/convenience affect my eating chinese food for my meals.
Otherwise I'd eat more fried noodles every day/rice dishes.