Being too thin has Serious Health Implications!

|credits: eatingdisorderstreatment.com

From the runway to the private homes, physicians are examining the implications of being underweight, which is what thinness foists upon its victims.

The fearful thing about this phenomenon is that young children — especially girls — are imitating the trend, with some even starving themselves in order to maintain the weight of their screen or pop idol!

Yet, experts warn that being too thin has serious health implications for the young and old, male and female.

Diseases associated with being underweight

Experts note that psychiatric disorders, disordered eating behaviours and chronic illnesses such as malignancies, hyperthyroidism, AIDS, renal disease, and inflammatory bowel disease are almost always associated with underweight status.

United Kingdom-based Nigerian scientist, Dr. Ayodele Ogunleye, warns that “the main risk associated with being underweight is an increased change of osteoporosis” — a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fractures.

The way out

Nutritionists advise that a healthy, balanced diet, including some high-energy foods, can help underweight persons to gain weight safely.

Agbesanwa notes that sometimes, people are underweight mostly because their diet is not providing them with enough calories.  “If diet is the cause of your low weight, changing to a healthy, balanced diet can help you achieve a healthy weight,” she counsels.

Culled from Punch