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Many people say they want to have a thin body. However, did you know that being thin is actually as dangerous as being overweight? Yes, sometimes a thin body is not considered a health problem. In fact, the body is too thin is a condition that needs attention. If not, the impact of being underweight will threaten your health.
Thin is a condition of being underweight according to height. Or it can be called the proportion of body weight is not proportional to height. A person is classified as thin (underweight) when having a body mass index (BMI) value less than 18.5. To find out what your body mass index is, calculate it with a body mass index calculator here or at bit.ly/bodymassindex.
1. Lack of nutrients
People who are thin have a high risk of experiencing nutritional deficiencies, regardless of the type of nutrient. If the intake of one nutrient is insufficient, it will have an impact on various other disease conditions.
For example, if you are deficient in iron, you are at greater risk of developing anemia. Anemia will make people feel weak easily. Meanwhile, if the body is deficient in calcium, then you have a very big risk of developing osteopenia to osteoporosis.
2. Prone to illness
A compromised immune system is one of the problems often experienced by people who are too thin. People who are thin usually lack calorie intake, including from protein and antioxidants. In fact, you need adequate nutrition to keep your immune system strong.
Proteins are needed to make hormones, enzymes, and create new tissue that is attacked by infection. Antioxidants play a major role in fighting free radicals in the body. When both are lacking, your body becomes more susceptible to various diseases.
A study in Clinical Microbiology and Infection in 2018 proved that there is a link between infection and being too thin. The thinner a person is, the greater the risk of experiencing an infectious disease.
3. Not fertile
People who are too thin have a higher risk of developing amenorrhea. Amenorrhea is a disorder of the menstrual cycle, so you may stop menstruating. Irregular menstrual cycles over a long period of time can interfere with the production of eggs in a woman's body.
If the body does not produce eggs, of course you will become infertile and will have difficulty interfering with pregnancy.
4. Osteoporosis
Reporting from the Healthline page, people who are too thin have a risk of decreasing bone density or bone mineral density (BMD) that is more severe than normal weight people.
Reduced bone density certainly makes the person prone to osteoporosis. In one study, 24 percent of women who had a body mass index score of less than 18.5 showed a lower BMD than women of normal weight.
5. Hormonal changes
Another effect of being too thin has to do with hormonal balance. People who are too thin are at risk for hormonal disorders, including important hormones that regulate bone and heart health. Reproductive hormone disorders also often occur, causing irregular menstruation or even menstruation. If this condition is allowed, you may become infertile.
In addition, a body that is too thin can also cause disturbances in stress hormones. Stress hormones tend to increase and this can interfere with your psychological condition.
Being too thin can also affect the ability of the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones. This thyroid hormone has a very important function in various systems in the body. Starting from the respiratory system, regulating heart rate, maintaining body temperature, and also muscle strength. If the production of this hormone is reduced or inhibited, all these bodily functions will also decrease automatically.
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