Experts are warning about the dangers of "fussy eating" after a 17-year-old suffered irreparable sight loss after living on a diet of chips and crisps.
Eye doctors in Bristol cared for the young man after his vision had deteriorated to the point of blindness.
Since leaving primary school, the teen had been eating only French fries, Pringles and white bread, as well as an occasional slice of ham or a sausage.
Tests revealed he had severe vitamin deficiencies and malnutrition damage.
Extreme picky eater
The adolescent, who cannot be named, had seen his GP at the age of 14 because he had been feeling tired and unwell. At that time he was diagnosed with vitamin B12 deficiency and put on supplements, but he did not stick with the treatment or improve his poor diet.
Three years later, he was taken to the Bristol Eye Hospital because of progressive sight loss, Annals of Internal Medicine journal reports.
Dr Denize Atan, who treated him at the hospital, said: "His diet was essentially a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps – Pringles – and sometimes slices of white bread and occasional slices of ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.
"He explained this as an aversion to certain textures of food that he really could not tolerate, and so chips and crisps were really the only types of food that he wanted and felt that he could eat."
Dr Atan and her colleagues rechecked the young man's vitamin levels and found he was low in B12 as well as some other important vitamins and minerals – copper, selenium and vitamin D.
Shocking findings
He was not over or underweight, but was severely malnourished.
"He had lost minerals from his bone, which was really quite shocking for a boy of his age."
In terms of his sight loss, he met the criteria for being registered blind.
"He had blind spots right in the middle of his vision," said Dr Atan. "That means he can't drive and would find it really difficult to read, watch TV or discern faces.
"He can walk around on his own though because he has got peripheral vision."
Nutritional optic neuropathy – the condition the young man has – is treatable if diagnosed early. Left too long, however, the nerve fibres in the optic nerve die and the damage becomes permanent.
Dr Atan said cases like this are thankfully uncommon, but that parents should be aware of the potential harm that can be caused by picky eating, and seek expert help.
For those who are concerned, she advised: "It's best not to be anxious about picky eating, and instead calmly introduce one or two new foods with every meal."
She said multivitamin tablets can supplement a diet, but are not a substitute for eating healthily.
"It's much better to take on vitamins through a varied and balanced diet," she said, adding that too much of certain vitamins, including vitamin A, can Read More – Source
