What are the complications of underweight? 6 health risks of underweight

What are the complications and risks of underweight? Some people may be naturally underweight due to genetics or a fast metabolism. Underweight may also indicate poor nutrition or underlying disease.

The most common risks associated with being underweight or having poor nutrition are:

malnutrition, vitamin deficiency or anemia;
Osteoporosis caused by vitamin D and calcium deficiency;
reduced safety performance;
increased risk of complications from surgery;
Fertility problems caused by irregular menstrual cycles;
Issues related to growth and development, especially in children and adolescents.

If you want to know more about the cause of underweight and the risks it poses to the body’s health, stay with us.

What is the cause of underweight?

Several conditions can cause weight loss, including:

Eating disorders: This includes anorexia nervosa, a serious mental health condition.
Thyroid problems: An overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) can increase metabolism and cause unhealthy weight loss.
Celiac disease is the most severe form of gluten-related disorder.
Diabetes: Diabetes (mainly type 1) that is not managed properly can lead to severe weight loss.
Cancer: Cancer can cause the body to go into a hypercatabolic state, which leads to increased energy consumption. This can cause a lot of weight loss, but the severity and weight loss can depend on the type of cancer and the person’s age.
Infections: Some infections can cause severe weight loss. This can include parasites, tuberculosis, and HIV.

Health risks associated with being underweight

Clinically underweight people are nearly twice as likely to die as obese people, a study found, suggesting that being underweight may be worse for your health than obesity.

Being underweight can impair your immune system, increase your risk of infection, lead to osteoporosis and fractures, and cause fertility problems. In addition, people who are underweight are much more likely to develop sarcopenia (age-related muscle wasting) and may be at greater risk for dementia. Also, for children, it can lead to growth and development problems.

In the following, we examined the most common complications of underweight:

Malnutrition

If you’re underweight, you may not be eating enough healthy foods with key nutrients to fuel your body. which can cause malnutrition. Over time, malnutrition can affect your health in many ways that may be noticeable to you or those around you.

Symptoms of malnutrition can include:

feeling tired or drained of energy;
they often get sick or have difficulty fighting the disease;
Irregular menstruation or periods in women;
Experience thinning or hair loss, dry skin or dental problems.

A study conducted in Japan compared the eating habits of underweight women with a desire to be thin versus underweight women without this desire. They found that underweight women who had a desire to lose weight had less healthy eating habits than underweight women who did not.

If you are underweight, you may be more malnourished if your low BMI is caused by an unbalanced diet or an underlying disease that affects nutrient absorption. Malnutrition can also lead to anemia or a lack of essential vitamins. Anemia can also be caused by malabsorption of nutrients.

Reduced immune system function

Malnutrition may lead to decreased immune system function and also cause people to lose weight.

Increased risk of surgical complications

One study found evidence that underweight people who had total knee replacement surgery were more likely to develop post-surgery infections than those who were not underweight. While they could not determine the reasons for this, they believe that underweight people are not able to heal wounds as well as people with a normal BMI. They also found that the underweight group had lower preoperative hemoglobin. While more research is needed, findings suggest that being underweight can affect your ability to heal wounds.

Another study showed that underweight people who had total hip replacement surgery had increased complications compared to normal weight people. Complications after coronary artery bypass surgery and lung transplant seem to be more for people who are underweight. Researchers have also associated low BMI with increased postoperative mortality in the first year after lower extremity bypass surgery.

Osteoporosis

Low body weight may increase the risk of low bone density (BMD) and osteoporosis. One study examined BMD in 1,767 premenopausal women and found that 24% of women with a BMI of 18.5 or lower had low BMD. Only 9.4% of participants with a BMI higher than 18.5 had low BMD. The results of the study show that underweight increases the risk of osteoporosis.

Sterility

Women with a low BMI are at increased risk of amenorrhea, which is the absence of menstruation, and other menstrual cycle disorders. Irregular or missed menstrual cycles may be a sign that you are not ovulating or not ovulating. Chronic anovulation may cause infertility.

If you are trying to get pregnant and are underweight, talk to your doctor. They can do a simple blood test to see if you’re ovulating regularly. They can also test for other signs of infertility.

Your doctor may recommend that you reach an appropriate weight before becoming pregnant. Being underweight during pregnancy can pose risks to your baby. This is why it is important to maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy.

Delayed growth in children

Growth delay is seen in underweight children, especially children under 3 years of age when the brain is developing rapidly. The brain needs nutrients to grow properly. Underweight children may miss out on key nutrients due to malnutrition and malabsorption. This can affect brain development and lead to developmental delays.

Your child’s pediatrician will chart your child’s development at well-planned appointments. They use these measurements to see how your child compares to the average growth of other children his age and how your child’s percentages change over time. If your baby’s growth percentage drops, this could be a warning sign that he is not gaining weight at the expected rate. For example, if your child is in the 45th percentile at his 12-month appointment and in the 35th percentile at his 15-month appointment, his doctor may be concerned about his weight gain.

Your child’s pediatrician will also ask about developmental milestones during regular visits. Remember that not all children reach milestones at the same time. Instead, doctors are looking to see if your child hits them within a certain time frame. For example, some children take their first steps under the age of one year, while others do not start walking until several months into their first year of life. Learning to walk or talk later does not indicate a problem, unless your child is also late with other milestones.

How do we know we are underweight?

The clinical definition of underweight is having a body mass index (BMI) below 18.5. This amount is estimated to be less than the body mass required to maintain optimal health. However, keep in mind that the BMI scale, which only measures weight and height, has many problems because it does not take muscle mass into account.
If you want to measure your body mass index, click on the link to calculate BMI.

Underweight among men and women

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), underweight is about twice as common among women as men. In a US survey that grouped participants into men and women, 1.3 percent of men and 2 percent of women 20 and older were underweight (report link).

What to do in case of lack of weight?

If you suspect you are underweight, consult your doctor or nutritionist. Your doctor can review your medical history and help identify problems that may be contributing to poor nutrition or weight loss.

Before going to the doctor, it is better to ask yourself these questions:

Have I felt sick lately? What other symptoms have I experienced?
Do I skip any meals or eat small snacks?
Have I been stressed or depressed causing my appetite to drop?
Am I currently trying to lose weight?
Does not eating make me feel more in control?

Share the answers to these questions with your doctor. If your doctor rules out any underlying medical problems, you may identify a target weight. From there, you may develop a plan to get to that weight through healthy eating and other appropriate treatments.

How to gain weight? Tips for being safe and healthy

By making changes to your diet and lifestyle, you can achieve a healthy weight and avoid the negative health effects of being underweight.

Try to eat smaller meals more often. Add more snacks to your daily routine.
Eat nutrient-dense foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, nuts and seeds, and lean proteins.
Smoothies are a better choice than diet sodas, coffee, and other beverages. You can fill them with fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
If drinks suppress your appetite, save them for 30 minutes after a meal.
Get more calories into your meals by adding ingredients like cheese, nuts, and seeds as toppings to main dishes.
Start exercising. By adding muscle to your body, you can increase your weight. Exercising may also help stimulate your appetite.

Final word

Underweight increases the risk of various diseases in adulthood, and people who are underweight are more prone to various problems, for example, underweight can cause osteoporosis, infections, fertility problems, and even premature death. If you are severely underweight or have recently lost a lot of weight, it is best to see your doctor as soon as possible.