Entertainment And News

Woman Wants To Stop Buying Fruit For Her Family Because ‘Greedy’ Stepdaughter Eats Too Much Of It

Photo: Olena Rudo, Vera Petrunina / Shutterstock
Girl eating fruit, mom buying fruit at store

It seems like the common struggle for parents is getting their kids to eat fruits and vegetables, but one mom on “Mumsnet” actually appears to be struggling with the opposite — her stepdaughter can’t stop eating fruits.

According to BetterHealth in Australia, fruits (and vegetables) are an important part of any child’s diet, as they provide “essential nutrients that are important for their health, growth, and development,” but she’s concerned she might be eating too much, even going as far as to call her stepdaughter “greedy.”

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The mom wants to know if it’s unreasonable for her to stop buying fruit for her family.

“Katey83” begins her story by explaining that their family is currently on a tight budget right now. She explains that she’s the breadwinner, but is currently not making any money at the moment because of her maternity leave with a 5-month-old baby.

“Husband does some part-time work that doesn’t bring in much (he runs our family vehicle and contributes towards household costs such as shopping etc),” Katey explains, also sharing that her 7-year-old stepdaughter and the stepdaughter’s mother have moved in.

“[Dear stepdaughter’s] mother does not contribute towards her expenses while she is living here (indefinitely for now),” and one thing that’s currently driving her crazy is the fact that her stepdaughter won’t stop eating all of the fruits.

“We will buy a weekly shop with 2 bunches bananas, few punnets of berries,” which basically means a small basket or box, “peaches, melon, grapes, tangerines, etc and she will eat her way through the lot in two days.”

That’s a lot of fruit to be eating in two days, and she’s tired of spending all of that money on what was supposed to be a week’s-worth of food. 

“For example, yesterday she ate a punnet and a half of raspberries, three peaches, four tangerines, some grapes, a slice of melon, and two bananas.”

According to an expert from Chalkbeat, it’s not abnormal for a child to grow accustomed to liking fruits, as “Their young palates get accustomed to sweet flavors very early in life.”

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Her husband doesn’t think his daughter's consumption of fruit is a big deal.

“He says she is a growing child and at least fruit is good for her,” but the mom believes that the amount seems “greedy” to her — not to mention it seems like an excessive amount for a child to be eating and she’s been showing signs of dietary imbalance.

LifeEd recommends children from 4-8 years old shouldn’t be eating more than 1.5 servings of fruit per day — a number well under the amount that her stepdaughter seems to be eating. LifeEd also explains that, since fruits are so high in fiber and sugar, too much can cause intestinal problems.

Katey claims that her stepdaughter is sometimes “reluctant to finish a proper evening meal or try anything she dislikes” because of the amount she eats, and also reveals that her stepdaughter “has had a couple of accidents with loose stools.”

She’s considering not buying fruit for the family until she and her husband can agree on a “sensible ration” for their stepdaughter, and some people agree.

“Not unreasonable at all,” one person commented. “That’s a ridiculous amount of fruit to be eating in one day, and [as] you say, never mind the cost, she is going to end up making herself ill.”

Someone else suggested maybe buying the fruit in fewer portion sizes, so there won’t be so much fruit for her stepdaughter to choose from.

Trying to balance out your child’s diet is hard, but to call her greedy is a bit of a reach — she’s only working with what you give her, so maybe don’t let her have so much to eat.

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Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.