To be surprised this kid’s parents haven’t been prosecuted?

[AngeloMysterioso]

Teenage boy goes blind after being allowed to eat crap for the best part of a decade (BBC News link)

I mean surely this is tantamount to child abuse, or at the very least neglect? How does a parent allow this to happen? I mean you don’t have to be a nutritionist to know that chips, pringles and white bread aren’t exactly a balanced diet...

Do you think the advice is correct, when a child starts giving signs of a reduced diet , to give them what they ll eat?

Well, yes, if the alternative is that they will eat nothing at all - which, for some children, is literally what will happen.

The people likening this to anorexia and bulimia are missing a fundamental.point.....

Yes, it is an illness. BUT he's had it since primary school.

If your child had anorexia or bulimia in primary school, you'd start trying to get them treated for it in primary school, not wait til they were 13 or 14.

That said, I don't know the full facts and maybe the family were pestering doctors from when this started in year 1 or 2 ish or whenever it started (how the hell was a kid allowed to be eating chip chop chips daily from that you g age? My boys have only ever had them once on holiday. My 5 year old.only had a Pringle for the first time this week).

If the family were fighting for support from year 1/2 or whenever this started, then it's the medical professional that's let then down

I think from what I've read though, the family didn't seek help til he was around 14.

Anyway, I feel very sorry and sad for the boy :(

I feel sorry for the family regardless of their level of responsibility or blame.

Hi @Venger, sorry to tag you - I wodered if you could say what multivitamin/mineral you were recommended?

TEanages with diabetes go blind through not taking medication, do we prosecute the poor parents who are probably at their wits end? When my child was young he was under weight I was given shakes for him but would he drink them? No. Thankfully he put on weight but I understand some of the issues. Yes perhaps more could/should have been done but it is very easy to judge.

DS (with ARFID) will eat only one particular brand of

*cooked cocktail sausages
*chicken goujons
*cereal (I have it imported)
*pizza from one shop only
*garlic bread from one shop only

Wholemeal toast with one particular spread, plain new york bagels with the same spread.

He eats one particular brand of crisps, but four of the flavours.

He eats five different fruits, which is his saving grace.

He drinks two flavours of squash and a small amount of hot chocolate.

He eats a bit of custard which is what i put his liquid multi-vitamin in, as he would never take it in tablet form.

We've had a breakthrough this week as he has eaten a fromage frais.

It could be a lot worse than it is, but dear god it takes very careful planning to make sure we have enough of what he eats, especially when we go away.

To those posters who profess not to understand, please read the responses on this thread from those parents who live this reality every day. The questions you've asked have been well and thoroughly answered.

user You have read the thread but seemingly missed everyone saying there is no help available. We are really not exaggerating when we say that.

I am not sure of the relevance that your DC have had chips once, my 11year old has never had a chip, still has a restricted diet.

There genuinely is no help available. DS saw an Occupational Therapist who specialised in food once, and she diagnosed him. He has not seen anyone since, nor can he expect to. This was three years ago. We were told to gradually introduce him to food, but not to mess around with what he does eat for fear of eliminating that safe food.

The upshot being that he refuses any of the new foods that we've tried to introduce him to, save for this one fromage frais and a small quantity of hot chocolate.

DS has never had a chip or a Pringle either. Chips would open so many opportunities up for us though, like being able to eat out in different places as you can order a plate of chips pretty much everywhere.

There is no help though, ds was admitted to hospital to try and expand the food he would eat. He left seriously underweight having not eaten a thing. They discharged him because persisting would have caused more damage than sending him home to eat the four foods he would eat.
He attended a specialist school, with SALT OT and Psychologist on site. The school had had successes expanding children's diets previously, they managed not to expand ds's diet at all despite intensive input.
I would love ds to eat more than the two items he currently eats, hell I'd love him to eat wotsits or jaffa cakes or crisps or chips or anything else because quite frankly you get to the stage that you are desperate and calories however empty become a goal.
I don't doubt the parents went through and probably still are going through hell and completely understand why, when you have a child who doesn't eat and you find they will eat the chippy's chips that you then buy the chips they will eat every single day if you have to.

@Unshriven, they recommended the WellKid chewable vitamin for age 4-12. They come in liquid drops as well I think. He was taking an own brand one but when they looked at it they said it didn't contain enough of everything he needs whereas the WellKid ones did.

Thanks Venger . I'll give that one a go.

Pediasure is what parents give in my ARFID group...DS won’t spit in it, much less try it!

No help at all? Not even private options? That sounds tough....

My friend went to the drs for help when her daughter was around 7/8 years old the dr response was if she wants to eat chocolate for breakfast let her she needs the calories her lunchbox consisted of snowballs and chocolate it was fucking ridiculous but there was no help and support around fortunately the child was NT so a bit of punishment later and she ate a relatively normal diet but my child who has special needs is a nightmare I can't punish him for not eating the "right foods" just pray he eats some food

Ds was seen by an eating disorders team. The talk of food and the added pressure to try “just one new thing” meant he more or less stopped eating all together.

We have tried to work on the sensory side but that can’t really be treated.

I don’t think he actually feels hunger.

All we can do now is get calories and nutrients into him however possible and make sure in a no pressure way chances to try things are always there even if rarely taken

Recommended 'treatment' is gradual exposure to new foods (which doesn't always work) and CBT (which would require will, engagement, sufficient understanding and co-operation, and of course funding). In the meantime, we give whatever foods DS is willing to accept in whatever quantities to bump up the calories.

User344772734481882445.
You have no idea how hard it is with a child who had ARFID. I have been under 6 dieticians all useless, three paediatricians in the past 5 years none of them can come up with any ideas we have not tried. Removed the things my child willingly eats for a 4 days as well as his milk to force the issue but no he would not eat neither would he drink more than a couple sips of water. We were told he would be hospitalised if I didn't give him back the foods he eats as its considered neglect. The mental mindset of a child with ARFID and ASD on top is more complicated than you will ever know without facing it yourself. I am trained to work with children so in that respect I am more equipped than most parents in ways to manage it and yet still find it almost impossible. The day my son took a bite of a chicken nugget in mcdonalds I was ready to throw a bloody party because it was a massive step. Took another 15 months before he tried one again. Its mentally exhausting for the parents without people judging when they have no experience of the situation. If 9 specialists can't work it out how the hell can i. It's a constant battle to get them to refer to the next specialist hoping they might have an answer or that someone finally will listen and refer them to a psychologist. I would try anything and I'm sure any parent would in this situation. The reality is its not going to happen easily due to funding. You have to really fight to even get an initial assessment that took over 2 years. This boy was stupid however they told him he needed the meds a d stopped taking them. My 9 year old was a nightmare to get to take his iron we tried several until we found one he would take. Never would I let him stop before they took him off. Now it's a constant worry thinking does he look pale should he be back on it as they are no longer checking because there are too many cases and his not considered high enough risk.

And those are the words of a child that is NT. my son has asd and other additional needs and eats no wet food. He has a good diet and is healthy but I’d bristle at being prosecuted if someone decided he MUST eat wet food.

I'd sooner prosecute parents who leave their pre-school children alone in a holiday resort abroad, just to go for a meal. I don't think I need to name them, as I am sure you know whom I am referring to.

DS stopped eating at 2years old when he was hospitalised with viral gastroenteritis, when he was discharged he didn't anything for 3 days even though we put food in front him and he only drank juice, on the 4th day he asked for marmite on toast and I was so relieved that he had asked for something. At age 6 he was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (hypersensitive to smell, touch and taste) and other things, we had a lot of input from occupational and physio therapists particularly concerning issues with food, at 7 he was Diagnosed with ASD, and again we had a lot of input from CAMHS over several years, at 10 he started at an independent specialist school and had weekly additional therapy sessions, he left the school 7 years later. The school managed to increase his safe foods by three different things, over the same period of time we have managed to increase his safe foods by 5 different things, in all that time nobody has ever mentioned vitamin supplements, but we have tried many different kinds, we dare not add anything to his safe foods because the merest hint of anything different and the food is rejected and is unsafe, we cannot hide vegetables in sauces because he won't eat sloppy/runny food.

ARFID is terrifying.

I thank my lucky stars that DS eats enough marmite to sink a battleship, because at least he is getting enough vitamin b12.

On a lighter note DS has just agreed to try a variation of one of his safe foods, I am still cooking enough of the normal version just incase...

1DoesNot - DH had similar with a few long hospital visits when he was small. Before that apparently he would eat anything but after (once was for whooping cough and the other for a foot op when he had to stay in for 6 weeks and parents weren't allowed to stay the night) he became very restrictive and still is to this day.

1does Good luck.and yay because even asking for it is a massive achievement.

Oh and DS vomits as soon as he smells anything overwhelming which make it a lot of fun to walk into a restaurant with an open kitchen.