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Is being "underweight" really unhealthy?

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right place to post this, but I figured it had to do with health, so yea. Ok, so I eat very well, I mean that I don't starve myself or anything like that, and I eat lots of veggies/fruits and proteins and some grains like oatmeal and wheat bread. I don't overexercise, either. In other words, I think I'm pretty healthy. But I just looked up bmi, and since I weigh 87ish pounds and I'm 4' 11", I have bmi of around 17.6, which is supposedly "underweight." But I feel perfectly great, so is this REALLY unhealthy? It doesn't really make sense to me. 

well, in my opinion, if you are underweight as a child, and as a teen, and young adult you seem follow the same growth patterns (doctors plot weight charts with percentiles) then I think it is very possible to be underweight, naturally, and still be healthy.  Getting the nutrients in is key, and if you achieve this without restriction, then I think most likely you are okay. I would just make sure to keep an eye on your body and make sure you feel energized and healthy.

GO ASK YOUR DOCTOR THEN COME BACK

Being underweight means you have less bodyfat so your body is susceptible to cold... it tends to depress your immune system and lower your resistance to illness... very thin people have a higher risk of low birthweight babies than people of a normal bmi... and they're more prone to anemia, low bloodpressure and various vitamin/mineral insufficiences. Being too low a bodyweight affects your hormones and depresses your menstrual cycle, which can lead to osteoporosis. But none of this is NECESSARILY true for everyone. I don't know how old you are or how long you have been this light - young teens are often 'featherweights' before puberty hits and their bodies develop into adulthood. It's very rare for someone to stay that small and light naturally after puberty. If you are in any doubts about your health, see your doctor for a thorough physical. My mother was stick-thin when she was in her late teens and early twenties (until she had children!) and she has often said that she was very sickly at her thinnest because she was just too thin - she felt much better after she gained twenty pounds or so during her pregnancy.

EDIT - I see that you started at 97 pounds, which is a perfectly normal bodyweight for someone your height, and you have deliberately lost weight and would like to be even smaller. DEFINITELY see your doctor to get the okay... you're not 14 years old, and nature doesn't intend you to have a child's body any more.

Yes, it is unhealthy. You may 'feel' great, but a lot of the dangers of being underweight--like brittle bones--are things that you can't FEEL right now, but you'll be feeling in 10-15 years.

Below BMI of 19 and that's when doctors will tell you that periods stop and other medical problems start.  100lbs would be the 'normal' low-end weight for someone your height... 95lbs at a stretch.  The acid test really is to work out what you're eating.  If you're tucking down plenty of calories (2000+) and maintaining your lighter weight that's one thing.  But if you tot them up and the total is much lower - even if you eat vegetables etc. - then you'd be in the murky realm of malnutrition as well as a very low body-weight.... and that's not a good place to be.

As Gi-Jane has said, a BMI of under 19 is usually where health complications due to underweight weights begin. If you're a light weight, maintaining this naturally, and have not lost to such a level, then you might be a little closer to safe but if you have obtained a low, low BMI through cutting calories and otherwise it becomes unhealthy and potentially dangerous.

The dangers associated with being underweight are osteoporosis, loss of fertility if you lose your period, hair loss, electrolyte problems, a weakening of the immune system, low blood pressure, blood disorders such as anemia, heart problems, and even - in worse-case scenarios - death. Worsened, still, if you have reached your lower weight without enough calories for your body to sustain itself. The lowest calorie intake for a teenage girl or an adult man is 1500 per day bare minimum, completely sedentary. If you've dropped below that, it's likely your body's not getting everything it needs from your diet either. But just being underweight alone is hazardous.

At your weight, particularly if you have sustained it for a long period of time, I think you ought to go to your doctor, have a check up, and talk to them about your diet, regimes and lifestyle. Be honest with them when you talk - though if you feel the need to lie about anything, that in itself would indicate an issue.

What seems healthy to you might not be quite so. Obviously, I'm not accusing you of anything, but it's worth the check-up nonetheless. The thing that leads me to question if what you view as healthy might not be as healthy as you believe is that you feel you have another two pounds you apparently want to lose, according to your profile ticker. You're still a young girl, and are still growing, even at eighteen (if your profile is up to date!) - you can't see what's going on inside you in terms of growth. Don't harm yourself now when you're still young, and have a life ahead of you to live.

Summarized: no, it isn't healthy just in itself, and it's unhealthy even more-so depending on the means you reached that weight.

I back up everything that has been said up there. I only have very few things to add.

To you what does being overweight mean?

To most people in society being overweight is very very unhealthy.

Well being underweight is just as bad as being overweight. They both put your health at risk a great deal. The longer you keep a weight that is not healthy for your age and height, the longer you're exposing your body to more health complications in the long run. Everyone has named a few already...Because of brittle bones you don't only get osteoporosis...rememeber all the parts in your body that are made of bones...yes your teeth. You might end up even losing those at a very early age...as early as 25+.

Don't try and lose more weight..if I were you I'd get up to at least a BMI of 18.5....at the very least!...but since you've been underweight its actually better to let your body heal in a more healthy weight of a BMI higher than 19 or 19.

How much calories a day are you consuming and how much exercise you are performing how many days?

We can easily underestimate our diets and our exercise habits...so watch out for that okay?

take care of yourself.

EDIT: I just read a few of your posts and it sounds to me like you're not eating enough. You say you exercise for 30-40 minutes plus a bit of strength training that you think doesn't make much of a difference, is that daily?

According to the calculators if you're doing this everyday, you are fairly active meaning you'd have to eat 2,400 calories just to maintain your current weight. This is if you're very active...if you were to be moderately active meaning you'd exercise around 4-5 days a week you'd still have to eat above 1,900 calories just to maintain your weight.  First of all a healthy weight for you would be from 92 to 127 pounds.

If you dont want to look "chubby" losing weight is not going to give you what you're looking for. You have to strength train, that way you gain muscle, and you look slimmer than you are now, and you'll be in a better physical condition as well as healthier, because you'd probably gain weight but only muscle weight. Trust me there are girls who weigh more than you do at your same height that I bet look slimmer than you do right now because they have put on muscle. Muscle takes up less space than fat...so even if you weigh more you have less inches on our body than if you were to carry your weight entirely in fat.  Trust me..I lost weight the wrong way, and I got skinny but eve then I was very flabby and I was underweight just like you...so I noticed that losing weight doesnt get you anywhere if you dont tone up and exercise.

Eat more than just 1,400 ...thast what you would have to eat if you were to not do anythign all day.

Plus I think that you posting this shows that you know you're doing something wrong and are only looking for approval of others so taht you can feel better about it...but in the end you know better.

Ok everyone, thanks for being concerned, but I honestly think I am just naturally thin, not purposefully being underweight. To answer your questions, I don't really exercise that much anymore, like maybe 1-2 times a week. And I eat around 1400 cals a day, which is enough because thats how much I burn a day. And basically the lifestyle changes I made from previously when I weighed a bit more was to basically just eat much healthier, I don't starve myself or anything. Oh, and sorry about the ticker, that was an old goal that I forgot to revamp, my goal is to maintain where I am. Thanks for worrying, but I am honestly fine and perhaps this was a bit silly of a post to write, I was just a little concerned that I might be a bit unhealthy but realized I'm fine.

You're not naturally thin if you dieted to reach the weight you are.

It is dangerous to maintain an underweight weight. Even if you feel fine now you can cause yourself all the health problems that posts have already detailed by staying where you are.

Your profile states you are 18. As you are a girl under 21, 1500 calories is the bare minimum intake for you WHEN YOU ARE SEDENTARY. CC's tools are not accurate for under 21's. A more accurate calculator for under 21's can be found here: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html

At 4'11, 18, and 87lbs, you burn:

1690 calories low activity
1960 calories medium activity
2410 calories high activity

Because you are NOT a sedentary girl you should be eating at least 1700 calories a day and no less, and on days you do more to eat more to accomodate the higher activity. But I am concerned that you want to maintain your low weight for your height and really think you ought to gain. I also think you would do well to go speak to your doctor for a general check-up to make sure no damage has been done already. And yes, that might sound a bit dire, but it's better to be safe than sorry.



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Agreed with lalabanana. If you were 'naturally underweight', you'd have to eat a LOT more than 1400 a day just to keep yourself from losing even more weight.

But you've obviously made up your mind, so I do, honestly, hope that you don't deal with health problems down the line due to your too-low body weight.

Ok, maybe I'll add in a couple hundred more a day. But the calculator says I could be 92 at the bottom end of the range, which I'm sure I must be some days since weight fluctuates. So I'm really not that much underweight in actuality.

listen cowcow..I have been in your exact same position before, and so have a lot of girls in this site that have thankfully moved on to better ways of living. Right now you are in a state of denial, mainly because you "feel" good with your body and you "feel" healthy. It was not a silly thing to post this, at all. I wouldnt say that to post something on a forum concerning health is silly at all. We have all gone over the lists of things that you will encounter while being underweight. You were fine just before you lost weight, you just needed to tone your body, thats it.

If you want to believe that its fine to stay at the weighy you are, then be ready for the long term effects, because there will be...and you will remember this thread and how many people did warn you about this.

lalabanana is right....but in the end is up to you...

if you rather be thin than healthy and live a long fulfilling life, good luck.

once again, take care of yourself...and dont fool yourself thinking that its ok to stay in that weight range, and do eat more...dont just say you will ;)

<3

There shouldn't be a "maybe" about it. Make sure you add in the extra calories you need, again - 1700 bare minimum for someone of your activity/age/height/weight/gender.

Weight fluctuation is water and food weight based by-and-large. Do not bank on that to make you "less underweight". Your BMI is 17.6, and to even be close to a healthy weight is 18.5 or above. In the UK, it's 20-25. Either way you're not out of the clear just because your weight fluctuates.