Experts are warning about the risks of extreme picky eating after a teenager developed permanent sight loss after living on a diet of chips and crisps.
Since leaving primary school, the teen had been eating only French fries, white bread, as well as an occasional slice of ham or a sausage.
The adolescent, who cannot be named, had seen his doctor at the age of 14 because he had been feeling tired and unwell. At that time he was diagnosed with lack of vitamin B12 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. Dr Denize Atan, who treated him at the hospital, said: "His diet was only a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on chips, white bread and sometimes slices of ham or sausage, and not really any fruit and vegetables."
The teen explained this as a dislike to certain kinds 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 Aan rechecked the young man's vitamin levels and said "he was low in B12 as well as some other important vitamins and minerals - copper, selenium and vitamin D. He was not over or underweight, but was severely malnutritional from his eating disorder. He had lost minerals from his bone, which was really quite shocking for a boy of his age.”
"He had blind spots right in the middle of his vision," said Dr Atari's assistant. "That means he can't drive and would find it really difficult to read, watch TV or recognize faces, but he can walk around on his own because he has got peripheral(周边的)vision.
The condition the young man has is treatable if diagnosed early. Left too long, however, the nerve fibres in the optic nerve(视神经)die and the damage becomes permanent.
Now he has been put on vitamin supplements and sent to a dietitian and a specialist mental health team.
12. What can we know about the boy?
A.He didn't see a doctor. | B.He can not see anything now. |
C.He has a normal body shape. | D.He insisted on taking supplements. |
13. What kind of food does the boy refuse to eat?
A.Crisps and chips. | B.white bread |
C.Ham and sausage. | D.fruit and vegetables |
14. What can we learn from Dr Atan's words?
A.Vegetables and fruit are the only source of vitamins. |
B.Lack of vitamins and minerals may lead to the loss of sigh. |
C.The more vitamins we take, the betterr. |
D.Loss of minerals from bone causes blindness. |
15. What column does the passage belong to?
A.Medicine | B.Education |
C.Economy | D.culture |