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pearlearrings
Are you sure you worked out here BMI correctly? :confused: What's her weight and height? She does sound very underweight, even if she were under 5ft I can't imagine that's natural :eek:.



If she was under 5ft, a BMI of 14.5 would be no different than if she's 5ft9...it would be a different weight, but both severely underweight for the given height.
krisblade
Underweight is 18.5 and below 16 is starvation according to WHO. If you do have 5-7% that isn't great if you're male, and should be closer to 20%.



Actually for males, a body fat percentage between 5%-20% is healthy. That said, I doubt they are only 5%-7% body fat if their BMI is 16. To have a low body fat % you have to have a reasonable amount of lean mass otherwise there won't be enough body fat to survive.
Reply 22
popple7
that's quite a lot underweight... but it depends, if she eats healthily (as in she isnt JUST eating 4 choc bars... having regular decent meals) then she should be ok.

im guessing shes a young teen? your weight when you're a teen can change as you get older... i used to be a size 6 until i filled out a bit around 16/17 and now im an 8-10. so it could just be a teenage thing?

as long as she is happy, healthy, and doesnt have any issues with food which causes the slimness she should be ok. :smile:

ah right well she was late to start puberty like even now shes got tiny boobs and shes nearly 17 even tho shes tall people always say she looks really young (which she hates)
and yeh like in a day she could have: milk and pain ou chocolat for brek, school lunch so could be anything, say pasta, with pudding of like crumble, then she would get home have some choc bars then dinner would be something normal pasta pizza burgers rice and stuff lol so its not like shes undereating!
Being underweight in and of itself isn’t a cause for concern.

Why isn’t the same said for being overweight then? Why don’t overweight people automatically keel over after their BMI rises to above 25?

Most girls I know from European countries are just underweight BMI 17-18 and they are healthier than UK girls, eat their 5 a day and such like. aren’t suffering from malnutrition, major fatigue, etc ..

Using the overweight argument, it means on the degree of under/over. The lower you are on BMI the more your risk factors go up for certain diseases/conditions

Some people just are light and would register as BMI underweight, but BMI is just an arbitrary number and you would look at the reasons why someone is that way.

BMI really isn’t a useful tool for under 25’s i.e. most of this forum, especially for the petite girls and their bone density isn’t as high.

It also fails to address the square cube law and therefore isn’t accurate for short/tall people.

TL;dr version it’s just A tool for assessing health, and you’d look as to why someone is underweight rather than focus on their relative weight. Some people are just underweight and are perfectly healthy like some people are just naturally meant to be overweight.
StressReliever
If she was under 5ft, a BMI of 14.5 would be no different than if she's 5ft9...it would be a different weight, but both severely underweight for the given height.

Yes, I know how BMI works, thanks. But a BMI of 18 looks very different on someone who is 5ft than on a 5 ft 10 model.

issih
she probs weighs more than that now but im pretty sure she said she was 7 stone and this was like a year ago when she was 5'9!! but yeh i dunno maybe weighs more now...

I really doubt this. Does she look 5ft 9? Does she look like she weighs 7st? Because Victoria Beckham is probably just under 7st at about 5ft 3:confused: . I sincerely, sincerely doubt that she just looks "thin" at 7stone.

Doodahdoo
I think that's true for larger people too, though - if you have a BMI of over 24, people seem to think that you're lazy, never exercise and live off takeaways and full-fat coke; it seems more socially acceptable to be underweight/on the lower side of 'healthy' than above it. But that's just my experience, haha, I don't mean to say that you don't experience that too.

That's not the same thing. It is possible for someone to be 18.5 BMI and be very healthy . It is possible for someone to be 24.5 BMI and not be unhealthy. These are different things. It is definitely considered more attractive to be underweight (I'm talking under 19 BMI, to be clear), but most people are more willing to accept that someone at 24.5 is "big but healthy", rejecting the same statement of someone who is 18.5 or whatever.
Reply 25
issih
ah right well she was late to start puberty like even now shes got tiny boobs and shes nearly 17 even tho shes tall people always say she looks really young (which she hates)
and yeh like in a day she could have: milk and pain ou chocolat for brek, school lunch so could be anything, say pasta, with pudding of like crumble, then she would get home have some choc bars then dinner would be something normal pasta pizza burgers rice and stuff lol so its not like shes undereating!



i wouldnt worry then, unless you suspect an eating disorder is behind the slimness... she could just be one of those slim model-types. and being fairly young, she can still get away with eating rubbish and not putting on a pound.
if she really is 7st and 5'9 though that is worryingly slim, really worrying :s-smilie:

its nice that you are concerned for your friend though :smile:
thruyourfaketan


It also fails to address the square cube law and therefore isn’t accurate for short/tall people.




People's frames don't typically square up like cubes. I believe the true exponent is somewhere between 2 and 3 but closer to 2 so they use BMI squared to make it simpler.

Body composition is a far more accurate way to determine health than BMI, however once the BMI goes below about 17 or 18 (even for a small framed person) there is likely a problem with low bone density or muscle wasting that needs to be addressed.
pearlearrings
That's not the same thing. It is possible for someone to be 18.5 BMI and be very healthy . It is possible for someone to be 24.5 BMI and not be unhealthy. These are different things. It is definitely considered more attractive to be underweight (I'm talking under 19 BMI, to be clear), but most people are more willing to accept that someone at 24.5 is "big but healthy", rejecting the same statement of someone who is 18.5 or whatever.


It's possible to be very healthy at a larger weight - for argument's sake, let's say a BMI of 24.5 - too, though :confused: Just as it's possible to be very healthy or very unhealthy with a BMI of 18.5.
And I don't understand your second point; that somebody with a BMI of 18.5 cannot be considered healthy? Is that not what I was agreeing with originally, but adding something from the other end of the spectrum?
pearlearrings
Yes, I know how BMI works, thanks. But a BMI of 18 looks very different on someone who is 5ft than on a 5 ft 10 model.



It looks different because BMI uses the square of the height and not the cube. So a shorter person with the same BMI as a taller person will look bigger in relation to their height. However, this is not necessarily because they are fatter but usually due to the fact that taller people tend to have 'lankier' frames for their height than shorter people.
Reply 29
pearlearrings

I really doubt this. Does she look 5ft 9? Does she look like she weighs 7st? Because Victoria Beckham is probably just under 7st at about 5ft 3:confused: . I sincerely, sincerely doubt that she just looks "thin" at 7stone.

popple7
i wouldnt worry then, unless you suspect an eating disorder is behind the slimness... she could just be one of those slim model-types. and being fairly young, she can still get away with eating rubbish and not putting on a pound.
if she really is 7st and 5'9 though that is worryingly slim, really worrying :s-smilie:

its nice that you are concerned for your friend though :smile:

ok i wasnt gonna do this cos i thought it might be invading her privacy but then i realised her full name isnt actually up and its on the internet anyways sooo doesnt matter lol but heres her page on models1 so u can have a look and her stats are there too:
Ugh I just calculated how much I would have to weigh to have a BMI of 14. I'm 5foot 6 and I weigh 9 1/2 stone at the moment, my BMI is 21.5 so I'm completely 'normal' - I would have to weigh 6 stone to have a BMI of 14.. I'd have to lose 3 1/2 stone!! That is NOT healthy.. urgh it makes me feel sick to think about being that skinny!
Reply 31
issih
ok i wasnt gonna do this cos i thought it might be invading her privacy but then i realised her full name isnt actually up and its on the internet anyways sooo doesnt matter lol but heres her page on models1 so u can have a look and her stats are there too: http://www.models1.co.uk/details.asp?sac=&subid=4093&modelid=394168&areaid=0&x=&sexid=2&careerid=7&curpage=4&SubmitSearch=&txtsoftsearch=&cboCareer=&cboSex=&cboEye=&cboHair=&cboBust=&cboCup=&cboEthnic=&cboHeightFrom=&cboHeightTo=&submit=



i see what you mean... she does look very young. but i think her figure seems fine, for a model. if she wants to be successful in that industry being very slim is a neccessity.
she looks like she could model for topshop, she has that kind of look about her.

like you've said,OP, she doesnt starve herself so its really not an issue. she's very slim, but as long as she isnt depriving her body then it's ok.
issih
ok i wasnt gonna do this cos i thought it might be invading her privacy but then i realised her full name isnt actually up and its on the internet anyways sooo doesnt matter lol but heres her page on models1 so u can have a look and her stats are there too:


I don't think she looks 7st. At all. From her measurements - and she has a totally different body type to me at the same height and I have a smaller waist but a much bigger chest and I'm over 9st. She does have a small bone structure, but to me she does not seem at all unhealthily underweight (i.e. like she doesn't get periods etc.)

EDIT: Edited to say - I love her look. She's gorgeous :love:
Reply 33
popple7
i see what you mean... she does look very young. but i think her figure seems fine, for a model. if she wants to be successful in that industry being very slim is a neccessity.
she looks like she could model for topshop, she has that kind of look about her.

like you've said,OP, she doesnt starve herself so its really not an issue. she's very slim, but as long as she isnt depriving her body then it's ok.

pearlearrings
I don't think she looks 7st. At all. From her measurements - and she has a totally different body type to me at the same height and I have a smaller waist but a much bigger chest and I'm over 9st. She does have a small bone structure, but to me she does not seem at all unhealthily underweight (i.e. like she doesn't get periods etc.)

EDIT: Edited to say - I love her look. She's gorgeous :love:


thanks guys :smile:
lol its funny shes sooo unkeen with the modelling just doing it cos she kept getting scouted and the monies good buts shes shes cbaa and goes in with her lil packed lunch with crisps and choc and stuff while everyone else has celery sticks :rolleyes:
its also lolz when we go shopping how shes size 6 and im size 16 like cringeee.
please can u edit the link out your previous post?? just incase she sees it and shouts at me hehe :p:

also, i really wanna know how much she weighs now!! i'll ask her when shes drunk... thats when she told me last time
Wow, she's extremely skinny and you can see she has a tiny frame. She looks more like 8 stone considering her height, but that's still waaaay underweight.
Done :smile:
Reply 36
god shes gorgeous. i would hate to be her friend, haha! (joking. ish.)
Reply 37
I was 16 at one point but now I'm verging on 18.5 :awesome:

To be honest everyone should be aiming to be healthy and active, and whether you're overweight or underweight it just isn't healthy.
Being happy about being underweight can happen I guess, but that's much easier if you're a girl than a guy. If you remember that "major turn-offs" thread not too far back, most girls listed skinny in the same breath as drug-taking and a sadistic personality. We're pretty much bottom of the heap when it comes to relationships :frown:
Formica
If you remember that "major turn-offs" thread not too far back, most girls listed skinny in the same breath as drug-taking and a sadistic personality. We're pretty much bottom of the heap when it comes to relationships :frown:


I'm all up for skinny guys! Far more attractive than muscle-y guys :smile:
Reply 39
Doodahdoo
I'm all up for skinny guys! Far more attractive than muscle-y guys :smile:


I hear this sometimes, but really? I've a BMI around 18, and I've never had any attention from girls, and I guess it's kinda because I look like a corpse. To be honest, I can totally understand not liking really skinny guys, people are hard wired to look for healthy partners. Just how skinny do you mean?

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