Legally blind at 17 due to poor diet

[NHE]

Blind From A Bad Diet? Teen Who Ate Mostly Potato Chips And Fries Lost His Sight
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... -his-sight

A 14-year-old boy goes to the doctor with complaints of tiredness. He's an extremely picky eater. (Think a daily diet of French fries, plus snacking on Pringles potato chips, white bread and some processed pork.) But overall, he appears OK. He's not overweight and takes no medications.

Tests show he has anemia and low levels of vitamin B12, so he's given B12 injections and diet advice. But a year later, he has begun to lose his vision. Then, by age 17, he's legally blind.

Turns out, the boy's highly limited daily diet — lacking in healthy foods, vitamins and minerals — had led to optic neuropathy. That's the conclusion of researchers from the University of Bristol in England, who have published a case study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"This case highlights the impact of diet on visual and physical health, and the fact that calorie intake and BMI are not reliable indicators of nutritional status," Dr. Denize Atan, the study's lead author and a consultant senior lecturer in Ophthalmology at Bristol Medical School, said in a statement.