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Following a healthy diet is something that everyone should be doing, whether they need to lose weight or not.

What would you do if your little sister was being bullied at home and at school due to her weight, and she confided in you that she was having severe emotional issues because of it?

That is the situation that the older sister in this story is in. She is working with her little sister to get on a healthy diet, but she is worried that this is essentially planting the seeds of an eating disorder.

Personally, I think she is doing the exact right thing. Read through all the details below, and see what you think about it.

AITAH for putting my 12 year old sister on a diet?

I (18F) have a younger sister (12F) that I’m very close to.

She is also overweight (bmi 30), just like every other member of my family except me.

Getting to a healthy weight can be very difficult, especially for children.

I have never made any remarks about her body and have always made an effort to tell her how beautiful she is and how her worth is not tied to her weight.

I try my best to tell my parents and extended family to treat her with the same kindness, but they don’t (despite their parenting and lifestyle literally being the reason she got to an unhealthy weight).

She is having a really hard time with this.

A month ago, I noticed that she started to weigh herself everyday and looked visibly distressed every time she did so.

Numerous other habits appeared like self-deprecating comments about her appearance and body and getting emotional while eating (sometimes it’s anger, sometimes it’s sadness).

This is just awful. It is good that she has someone she can come to, though.

A week ago, she came to me and confided in me. She told me about all the bullying she would get at school, the comments from the teachers (there was literally an instance where she and her friends overheard two teachers referring to her as “the pig” instead of by her real name casually), as well as the mean things our family would say about her body (which I can attest to being terrible).

She cried about how she couldn’t lose weight and she didn’t understand why everyone was so mean to her.

She told me she can’t even look in the mirror anymore.

Hopefully she can help her little sister avoid the same things she went through.

I comforted her emotionally, but deep down I knew no amount of affirmations could overpower the cruelty that she faces.

It broke my heart to an indescribable level.

Having grown up a fat child myself, I know how terrible people are to fat people, fat little girls especially.

It actually led me to a very intense and unhealthy (but thankfully short-lived) eating disorder at 13-14 which led to losing my period, my hair thinning, losing almost half my weight in a month and a half.

She knows how serious this can be.

I literally had to go back to wearing clothes that I wore at 8 years old because those were the only ones that fit me.

I truly believe I would not be alive if I had continued this lifestyle for another year.

Thankfully, I fully recovered and regained my health.

My biggest nightmare is my sister going through the same thing and unfortunately she’s already showing signs of starting.

A healthy diet is just what she needs.

So, I decided that instead of her going off and doing the same terrible thing, I will be the one to put her on a diet and regulate her food.

The diet I put her on is not strict in either amount or type of food and definitely allows her to get the amount of calories someone her age needs.

I definitely don’t try to push any harmful ideas like making her feel bad if she didn’t follow it or calling her names or anything like that.

Am I doing the right thing? I can’t help but be worried that I’m implanting disordered eating in her brain (even though the alternative may be worse).

It is obvious that she cares deeply for her sister.

I love my sister to death and I would hate myself if I’m the reason for a future life-long struggle with food.

I really don’t know what to do.

If you think I’m in the wrong, please suggest how I can help my sister deal with what she’s going through. Please help me.

AITA?

Helping her little sister get on a healthy diet with healthy eating habits is the best thing she can do for her.

Let’s see what the people in the comments on Reddit have to say about this situation.

A good diet with strong emotional support may be just the thing.

If she can get therapy, that might help.

A healthy eating plan is just another word for a diet.

Eating healthy meals is basically a diet.

Ideally, taking her to a doctor is a good first step.

Helping her learn to eat in a healthy way can make the rest of her life easier. Whether she calls it a diet, a healthy eating plan, or anything else, the important thing is to help her establish good eating habits.

It is unfortunate that she is being bullied, but developing healthy eating habits is going to benefit her no matter what.