My daughter, just over 2 yrs, is definitely not food-motivated. She is not picky and likes a wide variety of foods, including vegetables, beans, tofu, highly seasoned foods, all the things little kids are supposed to hate. But she just doesn't focus on eating all that much.
I don't know if it's an attentional issue (eating bores her?) or not. I do remember when she was 1+, it took forever to get food into her. She would eat one bean, run around the kitchen for an entire minute, come back to me, eat one more bean . . . In contrast, her friend who is exactly the same age would sit in her chair and pack it away, and still does.
These days I don't really work at getting her to eat, I just offer frequently throughout the day, and allow her to eat out of my bowl, sitting in my lap, which she finds more interesting (a behavior that I didn't intend on allowing at this age). Also relevant, we are still nursing, which she loves. I sometimes wonder how much of her calories is still coming from that.
Anyway, here's one more data point for your theory!
