8-year-old goes permanently blind due to 'fussy eating'

"Teacher, why can't I see anything?" exclaimed an 8-year-old boy after he lost his vision suddenly in the middle of his class. The Malaysian school boy was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with severe Vitamin A deficiency that affected his optic nerves, El.kz reports citing timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

Turned out this happened due to the second-grader's poor eating habits that left him severely malnourished. He ate nothing but chicken nuggets, sausages, and cookies ever since he was a baby, which led to an extreme deficiency of Vitamin A, a nutrient that is required to keep the optic nerves healthy.

Vitamin A can help maintain eye health and produce the necessary pigments for the retina to work properly. Vitamin A deficiency stops the production of these pigments, leading to night blindness. Your eye also needs vitamin A to nourish other parts of your eye, including the cornea. Without enough vitamin A, your eyes cannot produce enough moisture to keep them properly lubricated.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 2,50,000–5,00,000 children who are vitamin A-deficient become blind every year, and half of them die within 12 months of losing their sight.