“Fussy eater” goes blind after years of eating only junk food

Enlarge / Kellogg Co.'s Pringles brand potato chips. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

In the past, parents may have tried to coax their picky eaters to dinner with misguided reminders of starving children-or perhaps letting them imitate farm animals. But, the parents of today now have a scarier prompt.

A British teenager has permanent vision loss, hearing loss, and weak bones after years of eating only select types of junk food. The teen's doctors eventually diagnosed him with a relatively newly defined eating disorder called avoidant-restrictive food in-take disorder (ARFID). They report the teen's case this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The case is a rare one in developed countries, which have a ready supply of nutritious foods. The teen's doctors in Bristol were initially stumped by his progressive symptoms. But they caution other physicians in their case report that such damage from poor nutrition is potentially reversible-if it's caught early-and even people with normal weights may be struggling with eating disorders.

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