Worried parents have been bombarding a Dublin clinic with calls after a UK teenager on a junk food diet went blind and deaf.
The 17-year-old was hit by a condition normally only seen in malnourished third world children after eating just chips, bangers and crisps for 10 years.
And a specialist has revealed anxious Irish parents have contacted him looking for help since the shocking case emerged.
Jason O’Callaghan, who helps people to overcome eating disorders, has successfully helped a woman who lived on a diet of potato waffles.
The psychologist, who has treated numerous cases of selective eating disorder, said: “We came across this first in 2013 when a young man in his 20s lived on nothing but pizza and chips.
“After two sessions he was able to eat anything including Indian meals.
“We then helped a lady who lived on a diet of waffles.
“Again, after one session she started to eat everything.”
Mr O’Callaghan’s D4 Clinic in Dublin received 24 calls in the five days after the UK case emerged.
He works alongside paediatric dietician Carina Kelleher to treat people with eating disorders and restrictive diets.
He added: “It is very understandable that parents of a child who is a fussy eater and who refuses to eat things like vegetables etc would be extremely concerned having heard the news about the young lad in the UK but the important message is that there is a cure.”
Doctors in the UK concluded that the boy involved in the British case suffered hearing loss and ultimately blindness as a result of his poor diet.
The teen had, since his primary school days, only eaten chips, Pringles, white bread, processed ham slices and sausages.
This resulted in very poor bone density and a low vitamin D level.
