Junk Food Diet Causes 12-Year-Old Boy to Go Permanently Blind
Doctors said that the boy has avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), an eating disorder that affects about half of autistic children to different degrees. This was an extreme case, but definitely not singular.
Web URL: Read this article on Oddity Central
FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:
So-called 'fussy', 'picky' or selective eating affects around one in 5 of all children - and in toddlers and young children, resistance to trying new foods is almost unviersal.In most cases, these difficulties reduce with age, and need not prevent the achievement of a reasonably well-balanced diet - provided that enough nutritious vs non-nutritious foods are made available to them (and offered with no pressure, but repeated chances to try them, and to see others enjoying them).
For a small minority of children, however (around 1 in 33) selective eating difficulties are both more serious and more persistent, and may meet criteria for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disoder (ARFID). This condition reflects extreme fear and anxiety around food. See:
The diets of individuals with ARFID are not only highly restricted - including only a very narrow range of specific foods they consider 'safe' or acceptable - but very importantly, the few foods they do eat are typically ultra-processed ones.
Over time, and without specialist help (usually including supplementation to ensure adequate intakes of all essential nutrients), ARFID can lead to serious malnutriiton, which unless identified and treated promptly, can have irreversible and devastating consequences - as in this tragic case.
Permanent loss of vision is one such possible consequence - and as the authors note, this has already documented in other case reports in the UK and Europe: See
For further information please see also:
For more information on selective eating, see:
See also:
- David Rex, RD, and Dr Alex Richardson discuss the latest evidence-based research into what shapes children’s food preferences – with a focus on the areas of selective (‘fussy’ or ‘picky’) eating, and Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
12/11/24 - The Oddity
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A 12-year-old Massachusetts boy has tragically lost his eyesight to a nutrient-poor junk food diet that caused his optic nerves to atrophy beyond any hope of reversal.
The New England Journal of Medicine recently documented the case of a 12-year-old boy suffering from autism who ultimately went blind because of a junk food diet based mostly on burgers, fries, ranch dressing, donuts, and boxes of sugary juice.
The boy had been diagnosed with autism and suffered from an extreme phobia of certain food textures, so his parents found it impossible to introduce vital nutrients into his diet.
Earlier this year, the unnamed boy began experiencing vision problems in the hours of the morning and in the evening, but his eyesight was fairly normal during the day. However, his vision started degrading at a rapid pace, and in six weeks’ time he could only move around if his parents helped him navigate obstacles. Then, one night, he woke up screaming that he couldn’t see.
The boy had been diagnosed with autism and suffered from an extreme phobia of certain food textures, so his parents found it impossible to introduce vital nutrients into his diet.
Earlier this year, the unnamed boy began experiencing vision problems in the hours of the morning and in the evening, but his eyesight was fairly normal during the day. However, his vision started degrading at a rapid pace, and in six weeks’ time he could only move around if his parents helped him navigate obstacles. Then, one night, he woke up screaming that he couldn’t see.
The boy’s parents took him to the hospital where tests revealed that he lacked nutrients vital to the health of his optic nerves. His nerves had begun to atrophy for a while and had wasted away completely by the time he arrived at the hospital. Despite being put on supplements, doctors fear that his condition is so advanced that there is nothing to be done to restore his vision.
Unfortunately, the patient’s optic atrophy was severe,” researchers wrote. “This severe degree of vision loss cannot be reversed when it is found at such an advanced stage. If it is found earlier in the disease course, reversing the nutritional deficit can lead to some improvements in vision.”
While in the hospital, the boy received supplements of vitamins A, C, D, and K, as well as calcium, thiamine, copper and zinc, and he also started eating lettuce and cheese on his hamburgers, thanks to behavioral therapy. His parents added a clear supplement to his juice boxes, but he began refusing them after a while. Unfortunately, none of these breakthroughs are expected to help restore the boy’s vision.
Doctors at the Boston Children’s Hospital said that the boy has avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), an eating disorder that affects about half of autistic children to different degrees.
This was an extreme case, but definitely not singular. Similar cases have been reported before, in the UK and in the Uinted States
This was an extreme case, but definitely not singular. Similar cases have been reported before, in the UK and in the Uinted States
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