Blinded by his diet

I think a parent has almost full control of a child's diet until they are about ten. Birthday parties and other celebrations aside, children tend to eat what is in the fridge/cupboards and snack on foods readily available. If only crisps, sweets and processed/microwaveable fast food is at hand, what does a child do?

I don't want to sound holier than thou but the importance of diet has been thrust in our faces for years. We all know what a decent diet comprises of and the importance of fruit and vegetables. As teenagers, out and about on their own, with friends and pocket money on them I suspect McDonalds and other fast food outlets made a fortune from their visits. I despaired but they were active and at home they had to eat what was served (which was always reasonably healthy) or go hungry. I also know one of my sons and his friends ate seconds most days or all the left-over pizza at school for as long as he could get away with it. One of the dinner ladies, a local Mum, told me, long after the event.

Kids do like junk food. They'll choose chocolate over an apple any day given the choice. (Don't we grandparents know it!!) A parent has to start them on the right path with the 'good stuff' though. I think it's a duty. I don't know his parents' circumstances and I feel sorry for the boy and them, but I get the feeling his blindness was preventable, if a lack of nutrients caused it.

Autism can cause problems like this with food. Are we sure that this child didn't have an underlying condition?

The condition is a dysfunction of the optic nerve.

It's caused by a lack of essential nutrients required for normal functioning of the nerve fibers.

Most commonly, it results from folic acid and vitamin B complex deficiency.

These deficiencies are normally associated with malnutrition, incorrectly applied vegetarian diet, or chronic alcohol abuse.

But in some cases, like the one in Bristol, poor dietary habits can also be a cause. Although such cases are rare in developed countries.

Nutritional optic neuropathy is characterised by the slow and painless decrease in vision.

It can be accompanied by the color vision dysfunction and if left untreated causes permanent blindness.

Treatment of nutritional neuropathy includes dietary supplementation, aimed at compensating for the deficient nutrients.

The treatment is mostly based on folic acid, vitamin B complex, and protein replacement, as well as eliminating risk factors of neuropathy.

Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Ooops just noticed he ate sausages . The girl I am talking about ( now a teenager) won’t even eat them. Just bland white things like white bread, white chips, mashed potato and plain crisps . Such a worry .

Very alarming . My last neighbours daughter lives on a very similar diet to this. Will only eat certain white foods . Her parents are intelligent people but feel powerless . Their younger child eats a “normal” varied diet .

Parents who can't/couldn't be bothered. It's cheap enough to make hearty nutritious meals for kids.

Again, this boy may have had eye problems when very young but the parents never bothered to follow it up ? We don't know, but there has to be something more than a poor diet to cause loss of sight in a young teen.

Eye strain on gaming pads/x-boxes etc ? Not bothering to pause to eat ? Whatever it is, the fault lies with the parent/s.

Apparently the other processed food consisted of the occasional ham sandwich (made with white bread).

According to the Bristol Eye Hospital he is lacking in essential vitamins including vitamin B12 and vitamin D. He is receiving vitamin supplements but the blindness is irreversable as the nerves have been damaged by lack of nutrients. He hasn't eaten any fruit or vegetables for over a decade! Gonegirl whilst some kids may "survive" on that - I don't see many parents allowing it to go for that long

What ever happened to roughage, eating your colours etc? I dread to think what was in the sausages he was eating - probably more carbs than protein.

Did they mean bacon? Cheese strings? Ready meals?

All good for growing kids. It's food.

Yes. Some other reason for the blindness.

parents fault here. they buy the food .my daughter was most insistent she wouldn't eat vegetables at all. so I persisted and said well don't have any meals then. this went on for a few days. and yes she ate her dinners vegetables as well.. giving in to a child is not right.my daughter I think under feeds her children ,but they are thriving.they are healthy enough. she doesn't let them have fatty foods. except for a treat.

What were the other proccessed foods? Probably just fine nutritionally.

He could thrive on that diet. Added vits put back into white bread, vit C in the chips, protein and fat in the sausages....

He would have been fine.

Yes I didn't understand that either Gonegirl did he have some underlying medical condition ? I know of people who ate a very limited diet like this and were ok.

Not necessarily! Horse to water comes to mind.

Yes they survive - but good parents want their children to thrive....

Children are fed whatever their parents give them. The blame lies with them.

Sounds like rubbish to me. Kids survive on less than that. What exactly was lacking?