Nurse Asks 13-Year-Old Girl 'How Can You Explain All This Weight You've Gained?' So Mom Has Comeback For Her And It Goes Viral

Sep 14, 2018

While motherhood is full of joy, there are few things that can make a mother feel prouder and happier than when she sees her children growing and thriving. A typical well-check appointment is a time for parents to hear about the last year’s growth and development progress, and it usually is a positive time. However, when one nurse practitioner body-shamed a 13-year-old girl, a mother quipped back with an unforgettable response.

Julie has worked hard to raise her active, healthy children. They all thrive in school, and they are each involved in at least one extracurricular activity for health and socialization benefits. Julie took great steps to promote healthy eating in all of her children.

As an experienced mother of older children, a well-check for her 13-year-old daughter was a routine event. However, Julie was nonetheless looking forward to hearing how many inches her daughter had grown and how well she was doing. Julie’s daughter, Riley, actively competed in several sports teams. In addition to becoming much taller over the last year, she had increased her strength and was a picture-perfect image of health.

Riley’s well-check started in the same way as any other appointment. The nurse took her vitals and left the room. The nurse practitioner then entered to complete the exam.

She asked Riley numerous health and wellness questions, such as how much sleep and exercise she got, what her diet was like and how the school has been. Numerous times, she asked Riley if there was anything else that she should know about, and there was an insinuation in her tone that put Julie on edge.

Riley, however, continued to answer the nurse practitioner’s questions in a friendly manner. Everything about Riley’s answered pointed to a healthy lifestyle for a sports-minded teenager.

The nurse practitioner then asked Riley in a harsh and pointed way to explain all of the weight that she has gained over the last year.

This question left the mother utterly speechless, and it caused Riley’s eyes to tear up. However, it did not take the mother long to recover and to immediately come to her daughter’s defense.

The mother told the nurse practitioner immediately to stop, and she defended Riley by telling this insensitive medical professional that her daughter is strong, healthy and perfect.

The two adults left the room together, and the mother laid into the medical professional out of earshot of the teenager girl.

Julie told the nurse practitioner that teenager girls today have incredible pressure to reach an unattainable standard of perfect placed on them because of social media and television.

More than that, they live under the microscope of social media.

The mother also explained that she does the grocery shopping at their house, and any nutritional qualms the nurse practitioner had a need to be addressed directly to her rather than to a defenseless teenager girl.

More than that, she said that growing children periodically get heavier or lighter. They have growth spurts, and they are affected by puberty.

This is normal, and it is out of line for the nurse practitioner to body-shame her daughter.

Riley had a unique perspective on this. As soon as they left the doctor’s office, she mentioned to her mom that the nurse practitioner’s comments are precisely why self-harm and eating disorders are so problematic for teenagers today. How do you feel about the mother’s response? Leave your opinion or feedback below.