A teenage girl has been endorsed online in a popular post for choosing to secretly feed her cousins ”forbidden” food while caring for them, going against her aunt’s “hippie” diet rules.
The post was shared on the popular Subreddit. “Am I the A**hole?” where users go to seek advice on personal matters. As happened with this anonymous 18-year-old cousin, users flood the post with forceful answers about the situation.
In just one day, the post garnered more than 13,000 upvotes with people supporting the teen and even offering harsh advice on the next steps she should take to help children.
The teen shared that her aunt is a “self-proclaimed hippie” who doesn’t believe in modern medicine, including the glasses one of her two children needs. After losing her job last year for refusing to get vaccinated, her aunt and her children, a 12-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, moved in with the 18-year-old’s family.
when she started Baby sitter her cousins while her aunt was looking for a job, the aunt gave her a long list of things the kids couldn’t eat that read: “fat free, spice free, sugar free, carb free, dairy free, among many other requests that I found ridiculous ”, the cousin wrote.
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Restrictive diets for children have long been a divisive issue, with arguments for both physical and mental negative impacts.
According to some research, categorizing foods as “bad” in the eyes of a child can have the opposite effect of what is intended and make them more appealing, with children wanting to eat them even when they are not hungry. While children who diet are also at higher risk of developing eating disorders later in life, according to studies.
The British Nutrition Foundation found that in the UK, 20 per cent of children follow some sort of elimination diet, but only three to six per cent have a medical condition that makes it necessary.
In recent years, several reports have emerged of families around the world facing the disastrous effects of crash diets on their children, including a baby in Italy who was reportedly severely malnourished due to a vegan diet and was removed. of family care. In Belgium, a seven-month-old baby reportedly died after being fed a lactose- and gluten-free diet.
However, several official boards attest that diets that include vegetarian and vegan it can be followed successfully with proper medical advice and careful planning.
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However, the story of this anonymous teenager is far from being only vegetarian or vegan, as explained in the publication.
“I must say this, both of my cousins are skinny to the point that some would consider them malnourished, so the fact that they had to diet on top of that was ridiculous,” she wrote. “At first I obeyed their rules, after all, they are their children, not mine. But after a while I started to notice how the diet affected the children. They never had enough energy to do anything, they didn’t want to run or play like the most kids their age and they just looked miserable overall.
The teen said she had then started adding “forbidden foods” to their meals, causing them to soon gain “some healthy weight and start playing like most kids their age.”
Then he took one of his cousins to an optometrist to get his eyes checked and found out he needed glasses. “I bought her glasses and told her to wear them when my aunt wasn’t around her and then she thanked me saying she can finally see the blackboard at school,” she wrote.
“Last week we were playing in a park and I gave my youngest cousin some mini Oreos to share with her friends on the playground. Later I heard crying only to see my aunt dragging the five-year-old towards me, apparently she was walking in the park when she saw her eating the Oreos. Then she noticed that the 12-year-old girl was wearing glasses and went crazy with me, “he added.
According to the teenager, the aunt confiscated the glasses and moved into her sister’s house.
Reddit users were shocked by the situation and rushed to offer support to the young woman.
“I can understand someone having strict dietary rules for their family, but carbohydrates are what provide the body with the energy it needs to fuel cell division in organs and the nervous system, aid in digestion and all sorts of regular bodily functions. It is essential that children eat a balanced diet with carbohydrates for normal growth,” one user reasoned.
“But denying a child clear vision is a serious red flag. It’s abuse, full stop. Poor eyesight is an inherited trait that is easily corrected, so I can’t imagine anyone being so obtuse as to consider glasses unnecessary.” “, they added.
“NTA, and I strongly suggest you contact Child Protective Services. This woman is a danger to the well-being of your children.”
Another user agreed, similarly calling it “not the a**hole,” writing: “Not your place for decisions like not watching TV. Not decisions like letting a kid who desperately needs glasses get by without them, or intentionally starve their children.
In response to the outpouring of support online, the teen shared that she had managed to find the contact details of the children’s father, thanks to the address of Reddit users, and had tried to communicate with him.
“If I don’t, I’ll probably try to contact my aunt one last time. I’m trying to take the most peaceful route as I don’t want my cousins going through the CPS investigation process,” she said. completed online. “But if none of those things work and nothing changes, I will definitely contact CPS.”
