We have been told over and over that being overweight is unhealthy.
But, we never hear about the unhealthy aspects of being thin.
Are there risks of being too thin?Of course, a person can be too thin (underweight) with a BMI under 18.5. Once a person’s BMI drops below 18.5 the risk factors soar.
Here is a list of risks you put yourself at when your BMI nears the underweight range:
- Osteopenia/Osteoporosis: 1 in 2 women are likely to get osteoporosis later in life. Being thin puts a woman at greater risk for breaking bones later in life. Since thin women carry around fewer pounds, they put less stress on the bones and joints which does not help bone growth. In addition, thin women have less fat mass and therefore, produce less estrogen. Estrogen is the key to maintaining healthy bones.
- Infertility: Both thin men and women are at risk for infertility. Again, not having enough fat mass causes disruption is hormone production leading to disrupted menstrual cycles for women, and lower sperm counts for men.
- Inflammation and Decreased Immune System: As the body begins to detect malnourishment, the immune system becomes weakened and those with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to inflammation. When the body is working on maintaining proper nourishment, it is hard to maintain a healthy immune system when you don’t have all the macro and micronutrients needed.
If someone is underweight, it is generally easier to gain a few pounds than to lose a few pounds. A few extra snacks, adding some strength exercises, and adding a few more nutrient-dense foods in the day is all it takes sometimes. It is better to maintain a healthy weight, and to be thin (not underweight) by today’s standards than to be overweight. Finally, it is imprtant to ask your doctor to decide on how healthy your weight really is.
Lets not forget hair loss, weakening and loosening teeth and the fine downy hair that coats your body. Oh and bruising and bed sores where there’s nothing between skin and bone
Snacks don’t have to be “unhealthy”. I would suggest that people trying to gain weight just do the same thing as people trying to lose weight do – track their calories and exercise, set a net calorie budget (calories eaten minus calories expended in exercise above your base level for you general activity level) and try to meet it. They probably aren’t eating as much as they think compared with the exercise they get, and a high metabolic rate also makes it difficult to gain. Several small meals a day (call them snacks if you want) might help someone who is underweight just as it helps someone who is overweight – keeps the body from adjusting to a different intake in order to cancel it out (the body doesn’t like change). A typical weight loss program on the web or mobile phone can be used this way to gain weight, even if it seems as though it’s only made for losing or maintaining weight. Just make sure you’re consistently overbudget, figuring on an extra 3500 net calories per pound gained.
Yes, I should have clarified that this article was not talking about extremes like when someone has an eating disorder or illness that creates severe malnutrition. This is more about low BMI/slightly underweight people.
This article wasn’t talking about those in the extremely underweight category and of course there would be far more health risks for those individuals.
I managed to gain weight by adding a little bit of extra protein and complex carbs to my diet–around 300 calories a day of healthy stuff. I didn’t gain weight by eating Doritos and Twinkies every day, that’s for sure.
@weight loss
Nobody said anything about unhealthy food; “extra snacks” doesn’t necessarily equal “snack food”. One can increase calories by adding *healthy* snacks. The point they were trying to make is that it’s easier to gain weight if someone is underweight than it is to lose weight if one is overweight.
And while obesity is certainly a far wider spread problem than being underweight, I still think this downplays the situation too much. While adding a few extra healthy snacks and some extra (healthy!) fats might work for someone who is underweight due to being an athlete, it’s rarely that simple for someone who is underweight due to chronic illness or eating disorder.
@stormagnet I agree, but hey if you are desperate you do weird things
Is it a good idea to ‘eat some extra snacks’ when you are underweight? Extra fat is good but eating unhealthy food seems like taking one step forward and 2 back
Wow- this really over-minimizes the dangers of being chronically underweight. Heart and kidney failure, anyone?
Very possible. I was one of those women. I am naturally kind of stockily built and I was running 12 miles a day for a while. I got down to 12% BF and lost my period for a long time. But I was still at a BMI of 18.6, so I wasn’t technically underweight. My doctor was mystified but I knew what the problem was. I stopped running so much and gained some fat and got up to 17% BF and my period came back. This is why BMI is total BS in a lot of cases.
There is actually a greater risk that someone, usually a female, can be “normal” BMI and still underweight for body fat percentage. Often these women are lean PCO, athletic and have a higher percentage of lean body mass, which brings their BMI up into normal, but they still lack sufficient fat for hormonal regulation and have fertility problems due to that.
Is it possible to have too low of body fat? (Let’s say for optimal long term health and not complicate it with what particular sports might demand)
I was thinking of how someone can be overweight by BMI some times (not saying often) and be at a healthy weight with healthy body fat; can they be healthy weight by BMI but actually underweight or is BMI more successful here?