Dangers of Underweight
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Tara Gidus, MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N
I wrote yesterday about the Skinny on Being Thin and how people who are underweight or thin are not necessarily happy about being thin and don't always appreciate drawing attention to their weight. It is estimated that 8-9% of the population is underweight.
Just as there are many negative health consequences to being overweight, being underweight can also result in poor health.
Definition of underweight:
Body Mass Index less than 18.5 kg/m2. For example, a woman who is 5'6" would have to be less than 113 pounds to be considered underweight. A man who is 6' would have to weigh 137 pounds or less.
Personally I don't think BMI is the best measure. Looking at the example above, a woman at 18.5 is thin, but not that thin, but a man at 137 pounds and 6' is way too thin. The limitation with BMI is that is does not take into account body fat percentage.
Another way to think about underweight is with body fat percentage. Men have essential body fat of 2-5% where woman have essential fat between 12-15%. Anything lower than that for men or women can be associated with health risk.
Dangers of underweight:
- Prone to infection, comprised immune system
- Low muscle mass
- Hair loss
- Irregular hormone regulation
- Osteoporosis
- Anemia
- Pregnancy complications (or inability to get pregnant)
- Menstrual irregularities
Causes of underweight:
- Genetics. Some people are simply genetically thin with a high metabolism.
- Illness. Many illnesses have a side effect of weight loss including gastrointestinal illnesses, cancer, HIV, hyperthyroidism, and any illness that causes loss of appetite or medications that lead to loss of appetite.
- Psychological. Eating disorders or depression can lead to weight loss.
- Athletics. Many athletes maintain a very low body fat percentage to get a competitive edge over their competition
Labels: Tara Gidus, thin, underweight
5 Comments:
At Sat Sep 27, 09:31:00 AM 2008,
Anonymous said…
My sister has always been slender and has habit of eating small portions. Great until she got cancer and dropped 20 pounds. Tolerating cancer treatments that make eating difficult means she has to make up for lost time in windows between treatment/recovery from treatment. And building back muscle require energy and movement. So for those on the margin, I encourage you to protect your long term health by increasing portion size in your daily life BEFORE you get sick.
Now at less than 85 percent of normal body weight, she has been unable to gain back the weight she needs. Eating even half of standard portion size makes her feel "stuffed". She says she is using the appetite enhancer prescribed by doctor. But there are many things she won't eat and portion size remains quite small.
I think the consequences of underweight for health should consider the role of habit in being able to respond to life threatening challenges.
At Thu Oct 09, 06:01:00 PM 2008,
Jason said…
I'm 33 Male and almost 5'11" tall.
A year and a half ago I weighed
117lbs. I hated being that thin and
what you said about thin people
not wanting the attention is true.
I ate all the time and whatever I wanted and still stayed thin. I signed up at a gym and worked with
a personal trainer and now weight
151 lbs. I feel better and I noticed I'm not always cold. Before I was always cold and had
to have my heat at 77-80 to get warm. I also couldn't take the A/C
any lower than 76. I also couldn't
swim in the ocean as it was so cold
it knocked the wind out of me. Now
77 is way to warm and the upper 50
degree ocean water doesn't bother me. Jason, Portsmouth NH
At Thu Jan 22, 05:57:00 PM 2009,
angela sachs said…
Jason thank you, heat on 75 and I am still cold.
I was told that I would have to lift weights and drink boost if I want to gain weight.
I weight 95 lbs, I am 5' 2" and 38 years old. I cannot afford the gym, trainer, or boost.
I have decided to use can goods for weights and empty jugs refilled with water.
Wish me luck.
As for(Anonymous) thinking about cancer could be in ones future, no one perphares for that. And just because someone is thin, skinny, or a toothpic doesn't mean they eat little meals. I for one eat more than my husband who is 5'8" 170 lbs, and 40yrs old.
Angela Sachs.
At Tue Apr 21, 10:50:00 AM 2009,
tixrus said…
I was 5'5 and about 120 lbs (female) Then I had surgery to remove a polyp from my colon. I already lost weight before the surgery due to the colonoscopy procedure and due to anxiety because everyone was sure I had cancer. Everyone said, weight loss is a symptom of cancer so that just made me more nervous. Then I lost some more weight from the surgery and I am at 109 and it's been seven weeks and I have not gained any weight back. It turns out the polyp was benign I feel fine, am back to running and I am eating six small meals a day but trying to avoid sugar, refined carbs and transfats, as they are cancer promoters and I was never big on them anyway. I guess I lost muscle even though I walked every day before I was back up to running. I am working out and trying to get some muscle but as a 53 yr old female nature is against that.
At Thu Nov 19, 10:38:00 AM 2009,
Diana said…
I'm a 21 year old female, and I weigh 100 pounds as of this morning. For 2 years I had major depression without treatment. While I had always been thin, usually weighing between 115 and 120, I now fluctuate between 100 and 110. I can't seem to break the 110 barrier for any real amount of time.
I've been trying for two years to gain and keep 15 pounds. Just when I think I might finally be up to 115, I usually end up getting sick and losing the weight all over again. I've been to Nutritionists, and if I had the money I'd try out a personal trainer. The problem is that I get sick so often I can't keep a job.
THINGS I HATE ABOUT BEING UNDERWEIGHT:
-I hate it when people talk about how I can take some of their fat, if it was that simple I would.
-I hate that people make snide comments about what I eat, and how it must be nice to be me when looking at food labels, because I can choose the 'more decadent' one. When I look at labels I'm checking which one has more calories, so that I can up my calorie intake without making myself sick with overlarge servings of food.
-I hate when people compliment me on being so thin, and when I say I'm trying to gain weight, they tell me that 'thin is in, and your fine the way you are'.
-I hate that I don't feel comfortable looking at my body, because when I do, I have a habit of trying to see how many bones I can count.
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