Photo: Getty Images
Whether you are a parent or you don't have any kids, you probably know that most children are pretty picky eaters. It's hard to get kids to eat vegetables and many would happily have just mac and cheese or PB&J daily. It turns out though, there is a reason they shouldn't and doctors are sharing the story of an eight-year-old boy that sadly suffered the consequences because of it.
The boy, from Malaysia, would only eat chicken nuggets, sausages and cookies since he was an infant. It caught up to him one day at school when he asked his teacher, "Why can't I see anything?" He was rushed to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a vitamin A deficiency that lead to permanent blindness. Vitamin A is crucial to optic nerve health due to a protein in it called rhodopsin that produces pigments in the retina to help with vision in low light area. Unfortunately for the boy, he suffered from optic atrophy, where the optic nerve wastes away due to long-term damage.
On Malaysian doctor posted about the case on Facebook, stating, "As a mother... we can't always cook because we are busy... pity for the parents of this student... it is not easy for them to accept." She also urges parents to be mindful of the symptoms of vitamin A deficiency, which include dry eyes, shadows or gray spots on the whites of the eyes, challenges seeing in the dark and an inability to produce tears. To prevent any deficiency, kids should be fed foods rich in vitamin A, like carrots, mangoes, spinach, apricots, fish, chicken, eggs and sweet potatoes.
The sad case of the Malaysian boy is not an isolated incident either. Last year, a 12-year-old in Massachusetts went blind for similar reasons, having a diet of just burgers, fries, donuts and juice.
