Youngsters these days are extremely hooked on junk foodstuff. Despite knowing its ill-effects, most people are craving for unhealthy foodstuff to satisfy their hunger.

A teenager in the United States crosses all his limits in gobbling junk food. The boy, ever since elementary school, found to have filled up his belly with fries from the fish and the chip shop, Pringles potato chips, white bread and slices of processed ham and sausage.  

That being so, the boy often complained about shortness of breath and lack of energy. Subsequently, he visited a family doctor when he was 14. At that time, he was not on any medication and showed no signs of malnourishment. The BMI (Body Mass Index) and height reports were normal too.

But later doctors discovered that the patient was lacking vitamin B12 and suffered from anemia. Then the boy was given a B12 injection and a proper diet plan.

However, the boy soon started showing signs of loss of hearing and blurred vision. This left doctors in confusion as they couldn’t figure out the reason.  

The boy turned permanently blind at the age of 17 due to deficiency of vitamin B12, copper, vitamin D, and selenium levels. He also had low bone density and high zinc level.

A group of researchers from the University of Bristol concluded that boy suffered from nutritional optic neuropathy, a dysfunction of the optic nerve which occurs due to bowel problems and heavy intake of medication that eventually meddles with the absorption process of nutrients in the intestine.

Dr. Denize Atan, an ophthalmologist at Bristol Medical University and Eye hospital said: “Human vision has a huge impact on the quality of life, education, employment, social interactions, and mental health and that the case of this teenager clearly represents how our diet affects our vision and physical health.”  

The regular intake of junk food could also result in obesity, chronic disease, diabetes and some other forms of cancer. Thus, having junk food occasionally is all right and it also depends on your height, weight, age, and how active you are.

By Sowmya Sangam