underweight
Sign in to saveAlso known as thinness, leanness, skinny
Underweight is a term describing a person whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. The definition usually refers to people with a body mass index (BMI) of under 18.5 or a weight 15% to 20% below that normal for their age and height group. While obesity is a major public health concern in many developed nations, being underweight can also carry significant health risks and is a primary cause of mortality in developing countries.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Underweight
- Medical condition (new).image
- Body mass index chart.svg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- The underweight range according to the body mass index (BMI) is the white area on the chart.
- Medical condition (new).field
- Endocrinology
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
33,204 papers- The effect of underweight on female and male reproduction.Metabolism: clinical and experimental · 2020
- Endocrinology of Underweight and Anorexia Nervosa.Nutrients · 2023
- Prevalence of underweight in patients with schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.Schizophrenia research · 2018
- Underweight but not underfat: is fat-free mass a key factor in constitutionally thin women?European journal of clinical nutrition · 2021
- Underweight and Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Prisoner of war, from Belle Isle, Richmond, at the U.S. General Hospital, Div. 1, Annapolis.jpg
Show 1 more fact
- exact match
- purl.obolibrary.org/obo/SYMP_0000475
via Wikidata · CC0
~8 min read
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Assessment
- Prevalence
- Causes
- Problems
- Treatment
- Diet
- Exercise
- Appetite stimulants
- See also
- References
- External links
Underweight is a term describing a person whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. The definition usually refers to people with a body mass index (BMI) of under 18.5 or a weight 15% to 20% below that normal for their age and height group. While obesity is a major public health concern in many developed nations, being underweight can also carry significant health risks and is a primary cause of mortality in developing countries.
==Assessment==