Underweight
UNDERWEIGHT
EAT PLENTY OF
• Larger portions and high-calorie choices.
• Nutritious between-meal snacks.
LIMIT
• Alcohol and caffeine, which can suppress the appetite.
In a society that prizes leanness and spends billions on weight-loss products, people find it hard to accept that excessive thinness (unrelated to anorexia nervosa) is unhealthy. But while obesity is dangerous, surveys show that people who are of average weight at age 50 live longer than those who are markedly underweight. There’s no such thing as a perfect weight; however, for every height and build there is a desirable range in which the rates of disease and death are lowest, Underweight is defined as 15 percent or more under the low end of the range (your doctor can advise you what your range should be). Mild underweight is not associated with serious health hazards, but people who are very thin lack energy reserves, are vulnerable to infections, and often feel the cold because they lack insulating fat. Patients weighing less than 80 percent of their desirable weight on admission to a hospital are at high risk for complications. Severely underweight people who are confined to bed rest easily develop pressure sores over bony areas.
