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She blames her ex-husband for their daughter's weight gain.
By Megan Quinn — Written on Nov 25, 2022
A mother is seeking advice after an argument with her ex-husband over their daughter’s weight.
The mother wants to send their overweight daughter to a sports camp geared toward helping her achieve a healthy weight.
However, her ex-husband is opposed to the idea, believing they are giving their daughter the wrong message by sending her to a “fat camp.”
She wants to send her daughter to a sports camp that will help maintain her weight after gaining a lot following her parents' divorce.
Posting her story on the subreddit, r/AmItheA–-hole, the woman asked other Redditors if she was wrong about her decision.
She began her post by revealing that her 14-year-old daughter Abby, who she shares with her ex-husband, just hit 210 pounds.
The teen gained a significant amount of weight when the woman’s divorce from her ex-husband was finalized.
“Growing up, Abby was always an average weight until we split custody,” the woman wrote.
While the woman and her ex were still married, she shared that she did most of the grocery shopping and cooking for the family to ensure they were eating a balanced diet.
She admits that Abby struggled with the divorce, but began going to therapy where she appeared to be doing well.
Her weight increased when she started going to her father’s half of the time.
“At the beginning, I just thought it was gaining weight before a growth spurt, but that wasn't the case,” the woman wrote.
She claimed that her ex-husband was only feeding their daughter “junk food” when she stayed with him.
“He doesn't cook and to make it worse he lives by if it is on your plate you eat it,” the woman wrote. “So in short he is giving her way to big portions of crap.”
The woman spoke to her ex-husband about the issue and asked if he could give their daughter smaller portion sizes, but she says he “will not budge.”
In an attempt to manage Abby’s weight, the woman got her involved in sports.
“She enjoys it for the most part but it's not enough to stop the weight gain,” she wrote.
The concerned mother spoke to a doctor and a nutritionist about Abby’s weight gain, who both blamed it on the woman’s ex-husband feeding her an unhealthy amount of food.
Running out of options, the woman decided she would send Abby to a soccer camp on the days she was scheduled to stay at her father’s to control her weight.
“Abby seemed on board with the idea and this way her dad will not be feeding her or even really seeing her for the next couple of months,” the woman wrote.
Although when the woman informed her ex-husband about sending Abby to camp, he disagreed with the decision.
“It was a big argument that he circled around to her weight. He accused me of sending her to a fat camp,” the woman shared.
She added that she is talking to lawyers to change their custody agreement so that she could keep track of Abby’s weight to ensure she stays healthy.
Many Redditors agreed with the woman’s decision and criticized her ex-husband for what he was doing to their daughter.
“What father is doing is abusive. forcing a child to overeat,” one user pointed out. “If he will not relent then I suggest you work with doctors and lawyers and get custody changed so that he doesn't create long-lasting health problems in your child.”
“He is also wrong to refer to soccer camp as ‘fat camp.'” another user commented. “It's great that OP [original poster] found an activity that her daughter enjoys and is also a healthy way to get more active.”
“My first thought when I read the title was ‘yikes!’ but Abby likes sports and it's not even a ‘fat camp’ so if she wants to go, that should be all that matters,” another user added.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.