Anonymous wrote:Most kids go through a phase of pickiER eating starting around 18-24 months. If you manage it Ellyn Satter-style, most will pass through within a year and end up at their natural set point-- somewhere in the fat part of the bell curve from moderately picky to pretty adventurous. If you "give in" (feed "kid food" and/or make it a power struggle) then they will probably end up pickiER than they'd otherwise be. Lots of disclaimers and outliers in that, but I think that's basically true.
I think if your kid is 4 and still pretty adventurous, then that's mostly going to be their natural baseline. I don't see a lot of adventurous eaters become picky after age 2 or 3.
BTW I asked this myself on DCUM when my kid was somewhere between 3-4, and in any event, my kid (7) is still moderately adventurous by American standards. Which is to say, kind of like a mildly picky adult. She doesn't like absolutely everything, and sometimes (not mostly) will choose to eat just one or two, usually carby parts of a meal, but you can take her everywhere and she will always eat something, even when all meal components are totally unfamiliar.