Yep - fussy eater here too.. but much improved in the last 10 years or so!

No veg except potato, absolutely no salad, only fruit. Mine is about texture too.. I have to cut up onion really really small so that it cooks up into practically nothing so I don't have to pick around it in a dish. But I would never leave it out, as I love the flavour. Same with mushroom.. if I make beef strog or something, I dodge the mushroom when it comes time to eat. But now I eat basic veggies and a basic salad, and I'm much much more adventurous with new things.

I too remember people saying saying to my mum that you can get a child to eat anything.. and they absolutely FORCED pumpkin down my throat. They wouldn't let me wash it down with water or anything. I was gagging and crying and they just MADE me eat it. My bro laughed the whole time too. Needless to say, I can't touch pumpkin now, and I agree it's probably more an anxiety thing with pumpkin coz of that one time. Think I was about 4 or 5 when they did that. My mum was probably laughing inside at these people that thought they could force me to eat it too.. guess they had a lesson to learn that you can't force food on people!!

hmm.. not really sure where I'm going with my post. Just that I understand to a degree how you feel, and COMPLETELY agree not to hassle kids about food. That's one battleground I'm determined not to fight. DH was raised to eat whatever was on his plate, and he had issues as a teenager too.. but now he eats anything and everything, so it was probably anxiety related there too, then he moved out of home and was his own person and decided he liked food after all! hehe.

*hugs* I'll be interested to know if you can overcome it at all.