Understanding Underweight: Signs, Risks & Health Implications

Despite the glamorous and healthy image presented by overly thin models and celebrities, being underweight can cause some serious health issues. Your body needs a certain amount of muscle and fat in order to function properly and to prevent injury. You may find it difficult, in the face of all these media images that glorify underweight women, to reconcile with the fact that you are indeed underweight and putting your health at risk. Educate yourself on some of the signs of this potentially dangerous condition.

Things You'll Need

• BMI chart or calculator

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Instructions

Possible Indicators

• 1

  Check on a body mass index (BMI) chart to see where you fall for your height and weight (BMI = [your weight x 703] / your height in inches squared), or determine your exact BMI using a BMI calculator. If you have a BMI of less than 18.5, you are underweight. For example, a 5-foot-5-inch-tall woman who weighs 110 lbs. is underweight---(110 lbs. x 703) / 65 in. squared = 18.3).

• 2

  Keep an eye out for a loss of menstrual cycle, a sign that you may be underweight. When a woman lacks large enough fat stores, this signals to the body that she does not have the ability to safely carry a child. She stops releasing eggs (making her infertile) and having her period.

• 3

  Look for signs of an immune system deficiency, which include getting sick easily, more often and for longer periods of time. Immune system deficiency commonly occurs among the underweight.

• 4

  Watch for symptoms of anemia, another sign of being underweight, such as weakness, poor circulation, dizziness and fatigue.