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...

Bear in mind just how brutally and radically the infrastructure in this country is being destroyed under the Tories. There is less help for parents whose DC have complex needs - as well as less money, in many cases, for healthy food, particularly if 'ordinary' food is not appropriate (and even more so if the child's needs mean one or both parents need to provide 24/7 care or can't hold down a job because consistent professional care is unobtainable).

You want them prosecuted. You have no fucking idea how hard they might have tried to get him to take his medication.

But yeah let’s carry on blaming when you have no idea about the facts

A member of my wider family has a very similar diet to this and has done for 20+ years.

She is now a professional in her 30s with a therapist and STILL cannot overcome it to widen her diet, despite desperately wanting to.

If she cannot do it now, I don't know what hope her parents had by the time it was apparent it was a long term problem.

I don’t think it’s their fault he has an eating disorder.

But you want them prosecuted for the outcome of that disorder?

One article with very limited information and you want to prosecute. Talk about assumptive and judgemental!

I’m always staggered by how the media can so easily and quickly sway the minds of the ignorant. It’s scary these lambs walk amongst us.

I understand the sentiment, but in a case of illness and/or disorder this is obviously not the right way.

But in general I agree that bad nutrition (along with dental hygiene) should be considered a form of abuse and/or neglect - both physical and emotional. I think of all the children who are being fed to be almost as broad as they are tall, who have black teeth etc.

What do you suggest that the parents do hold him down and force feed him ?

Sounds like an eating disorder to me.

Would you prosecute parents of a child with anorexia?

I was an extremely “picky” eater throughout my childhood. If it was nowadays I would probably have had a diagnosis but back then everyone just called me fussy and got angry with me. I ate rice crispies with milk, toast, pork sausages, digestive biscuits and chocolate. I drank milky tea or milk. Nothing else. Not even water. My mum had me at dieticians and nothing helped. People tried to force me to eat. I tried to force myself to eat. As an adult I underwent hypnotherapy. Nothing worked. I am now in my 30s and have gradually added things to my diet so it’s a lot more varied now, but I’m still nowhere near a “normal” eater. Food issues are massively misunderstood by most and people underestimate just how fragile the relationship between food and our emotional/mental well being is. It’s really not just as simple as “they’ll eat when they’re hungry enough.” It just shows your own ignorance of the issue really and nothing else.

Dd doesn't eat fruit or vegetables or meat or fish. She also has coeliac disease so further restricted there. I buy her bottles of vitamins all the time. Multi vits, b12, iron, vit d. She doesn't take them, says she doesn't need them. I'm amazed she hasn't got scurvy. I can't force her. She seems to survive on almond milk and cheese.

Article is a bit confusing because it states that it is only since primary school that the boy's diet has been so limited, which suggests he was capable of eating a more varied diet but chose not to when he had more of a say in the matter, in which case his parents should have done more to encourage healthy eating. But then the Doctor who treated him states that he has 'an aversion to certain textures of food that he really could not tolerate' which really is a totally different thing and means that for all we know his parents tried every which way to help him. Either way the outcome is very sad, and I hope he now gets any help he might need before he does himself any more damage.

If only it was as simple as you think.

This could easily be my dd, her diet is very similar, each day is a battle with me trying to get her to eat something different, she has severe sensory issues around food, she has Aspergers, she has hypermobility and low muscle tone which effects her swallowing and gag reflexes. He diet is mainly bread, cheese and potato, she won’t eat meat, she gags if I put a vegetable on her plate, dinner times often end with her crying and feeling sick. I have asked for help many times through GP often to be told “let her eat what she likes” or the other extreme “let her go hungry”, neither really solve the problem as dd will happily not eat rather than look at a vegetable. My dd has bad eye sight, she has problems with her bones, she’s pale and is gaining weight but no one will help us.

You can’t force a teenager to take tablets/supplements, you can’t control what they eat all the time. All I can do is cut out carbs by not buying them but then my dd doesn’t eat, we have swapped white bread for brown, use lower fat cheese and occasionally I can get her to drink a smoothie but getting her to eat vegetables or meat is unlikely to happen.

It says he was given B12 supplements and a diet at 14 but didn’t stick to it, the comment about dislike of textures yet chips, crisps and bread are all different textures. I think the parents need to take responsibility here

^I agree. The textures comment speaks volumes.

He obviously has a very bad eating disorder and has been let down by many people in his life- not just his parents. If at 14 he was prescribed b12 but refused to take them the Dr's should have tried to get him on regular b12 injections. There are also things like vitamin drops that could have been hidden in his food or drink, or vitamins sprays. The total inaction from all caregivers in his life is a disgrace.

aprilly it’s not that simple. When ds was younger he ate a very varied diet but as he got older and his sensory problems and other issues got worse his problems got worse to the point he can go days without taking any food orally. Yesterday he ate two apples and an ice cream.

only since primary school that the boy's diet has been so limited, which suggests he was capable of eating a more varied diet but chose not to when he had more of a say in the matter, in which case his parents should have done more to encourage healthy eating

My DS has slowly dropped food, I cannot and will not force him to eat things. And yes, he would rather go hungry (which also causes a decline in his behaviour)

The Dr who treated him was on This morning she was saying there was many factors to this boys life that led to this I don't think you can say they should be prosecuted on the basis of his eating would you want fat kids parents prosecuted for over eating ? You need to look at every case individually you are saying you are understanding but...

yet chips, crisps and bread are all different textures.

Well it depends how they are defining textures. They are all dry and each mouthful is the same. Chips not so much but the other things are also pretty uniform.

It really isn't as simple as people make out.

I can't get him to take medication either. On the very odd occasion he will take a Calpol melt (pre dissolved on a spoon) but it is rare.

Chips, bread and crisps are same bland safe food for some children

As I said my sons diet is restricted but isn't as bad as it could be ,love how people think all children will just take medication ,my son has chronic constipation ,he refuses all oral medication and yes I hide it it in drinks and food but he has an amazing sense of taste and small and always seems to know when it's got stuff in it so just won't take it , I have to give him suppositories and enemas when things are really bad, thankfully other than this he's generally very healthy and rarely needs other medication,s

only since primary school that the boy's diet has been so limited, which suggests he was capable of eating a more varied diet but chose not to when he had more of a say in the matter

Eating disorders can sometimes be triggered by the sufferer losing control or feeling helpless in another aspect of their lives. Perhaps his parents separated, perhaps his school were pressuring him about sats, perhaps his family had to move away from where all his friends and school were. We don’t know the details so we’re all only guessing but don’t assume it was just because he decided to eat less.

You can't force a 14 year old to eat, take supplements or have injections. It's not the same as forcing a toddler to have their teeth brushed.
All the foods mentioned are bland foods.

I stand corrected then Sirzy and TeamUnicorn. I just assumed a sensory issue would show itself a lot younger than 11.

How do you suggest they get the vitamins into him? He would be unlikely to eat or chew them.

I suppose an odourless or colour free vitamin drop in water might work. That's if he drank much.