Teenager, 17, lives off a diet of CHIPS and cheese because she has a phobia of all other foods

A girl with a food phobia has lived off a diet of chips and cheese for five years - because she claims anything else makes her feel sick.

Jennifer Radigan, 17, eats mostly oven chips and is so repulsed by the thought of eating meat and vegetables she apparently heaves at the sight of them.

The teenager, from Galston, in East Ayrshire, Scotland, claims she hasn't been able to finish a proper meal in years - and can only extend her diet to the occasional bowl of pasta or boiled potatoes.

Jennifer, who started refusing food from a very early age, said she used to be so ashamed of her phobia she would starve herself at school, then later lie to her parents that she had eaten.

The college student is thought to suffer from a condition known as Selective Eating Disorder.

This causes sufferers to be anxious or nauseous when they're presented with new or feared food, leaving them at greater risk of extreme weight loss and malnutrition.

Jennifer's eating habits, thought to be one the main reasons she regularly faints in public, have caused her weight to plummet to just 6st 10lbs. At just 5ft tall, this means her BMI of 18.4. is below the healthy range.

But it was only when she smashed her head on a concrete floor after fainting on her first day of work experience that she decided to go to the doctors for help. Tests revealed she was deficient in iron and vitamin B12. 

Doctors then suggested Jennifer's food phobia could be Selective Eating Disorder and have referred her to a specialist for formal diagnosis.

She said: 'I've fainted a total of five times now, and each time was different. One time I was shaking and when I came round I was still shaking - it was terrifying. I find myself getting very easily upset by it. I'll look in the mirror and think "I'm nothing but skin and bones" and "is this how people see me?"'

Jennifer, who hopes to start university in September, is terrified her phobia of food will only get worse when she moves away from home.

But having been recently referred to a specialist by her GP, she is finally hoping to be diagnosed with SED so she can get the therapy she needs.

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