KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (WKRC) — A child became permanently blind due to poor nutrition.
According to iHeart, an eight-year-old Malaysian boy went blind due to poor diet since childhood. The child reportedly ate a diet consisting only of chicken nuggets, sausages and biscuits, the outlet reported.
“As a mother, we can’t always cook because we are busy. Too bad for this student’s parents. It’s not easy for them to accept,” Dr. Erna Nadia, a popular Malaysian doctor with a huge following on social networks. , wrote on Facebook.
The daily mail reported that the boy’s instructors became aware of the problem after he asked, “Teacher, why can’t I see anything?”
He was taken to hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a serious vitamin A deficiency, according to The daily mailwhich notes that this disease affects 1% of Americans, although to a lesser extent.
The publication reports that the child likely suffered from optic atrophy, which, according to the Cleveland Clinic, is a condition that “occurs due to long-term damage to the optic nerve fibers from many different causes,” which can cause “irreversible problems with vision, including blindness.”
Dr Nadia urged parents to be aware of the symptoms of vitamin A deficiency, which include:
- Gray shadows or spots on the whites of the eyes
- Difficulty seeing in the dark
- The inability to produce tears
The Cleveland Clinic states that the best way to prevent vitamin A deficiency is to eat a healthy diet that includes foods such as these:
- Green vegetables, such as leafy greens and broccoli
- Orange and yellow vegetables, such as carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and squash
- Orange and yellow fruits, such as oranges, mangoes, cantaloupe, and papayas
- Certain types of fish, such as salmon
- Cereals, rice potatoes, wheat and soy enriched with vitamin A
- If necessary, take a vitamin A supplement
According to the clinic, many people in developing countries do not get enough vitamin A, with infants, children and pregnant or breastfeeding people at greatest risk. Although vitamin A deficiency is rare in the United States, it is the leading cause of blindness in children worldwide, according to the clinic.
The daily mail first reported last year in October that a 12-year-old boy in Massachusetts was left blind due to similar circumstances.
