Teen who only ate crisps and chips goes blind

Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 Ewan Munro

Fussy eating taken to extreme levels is dangerous. 

Experts have warned about the dangers of fussy eating after one teen’s diet caused him to lose his eyesight.

Most of us will have gone through a period of fussy eating at one stage or another while growing up, but for one 17-year-old, a diet of only chips, crisps and bread has brought about dire consequences.

The teenager, whose name has been withheld for legal reasons, first started to feel unwell at the age of 14 and at the time was suspected of having vitamin B12 deficiency, but after failing to keep up with taking supplements and continuing his terrible diet, within three years he had started to go blind.

“His diet was essentially a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day,” said Dr Denize Atan. “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.”

Although the 17-year-old was not underweight, he was severely malnourished.

“He had lost minerals from his bone, which was really quite shocking for a boy of his age,” said Dr Atan. “He had blind spots right in the middle of his vision.”

He has since been referred to both a dietitian and a specialist mental health team.

Whether he will ever fully regain his sight however remains unclear.

Source: BBC News