An underweight person is a person whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. A person who is underweight is malnourished .
55-1094: [REDACTED] Look up skinny in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Skinny is another word for thin . It can also mean: People [ edit ] Skinny (rapper) , Saudi-American hip hop rapper Kyle Graham (1899–1973), American Major League Baseball pitcher Skinny Graham (outfielder) (1909–1967), American Major League Baseball player Skinny Johnson (1911–1980), American college basketball player Nedal Hussein (born 1977), Australian boxer Skinny O'Neal (1899–1981), American Major League Baseball pitcher Dominick Pizzonia (born 1941), New York mobster known as "Skinny Dom" Jack Titus (1908–1978), Australian rules football player Jonathan M. Wainwright (general) (1883–1953), American World War II army general and Medal of Honor recipient Entertainment [ edit ] Skinny (band) , defunct British electronica/rock band Skinny (They Can't Get Enough) , 1988 album by rap group The Skinny Boys "Skinny,"
110-418: A weighing scale and a stadiometer . The multiplication and division may be carried out directly, by hand or using a calculator, or indirectly using a lookup table (or chart). The table displays BMI as a function of mass and height and may show other units of measurement (converted to metric units for the calculation). The table may also show contour lines or colours for different BMI categories. The BMI
165-582: A BMI between the 85th and 95th percentile are considered to be overweight. Studies in Britain from 2013 have indicated that females between the ages 12 and 16 had a higher BMI than males of the same age by 1.0 kg/m on average. These recommended distinctions along the linear scale may vary from time to time and country to country, making global, longitudinal surveys problematic. People from different populations and descent have different associations between BMI, percentage of body fat, and health risks, with
220-402: A BMI of 25 or more is considered overweight and 30 or more is considered obese . In addition to the principle, international WHO BMI cut-off points (16, 17, 18.5, 25, 30, 35 and 40), four additional cut-off points for at-risk Asians were identified (23, 27.5, 32.5 and 37.5). These ranges of BMI values are valid only as statistical categories. BMI is used differently for people aged 2 to 20. It
275-501: A breed of hairless guinea pig Skinny, a technical trail feature found on some mountain biking trails Skinny Mobile, a subsidiary of Spark New Zealand See also [ edit ] The Skinny (disambiguation) Skinny dip (disambiguation) Club Skinny, a mid-1990s nightclub which gave birth to the Romo movement Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
330-417: A death rate similar to normal weight people as defined by BMI, while underweight and obese people had a higher death rate. A study published by The Lancet in 2009 involving 900,000 adults showed that overweight and underweight people both had a mortality rate higher than normal weight people as defined by BMI. The optimal BMI was found to be in the range of 22.5–25. The average BMI of athletes
385-538: A given height. The BMI also fails to take into account loss of height through ageing. In this situation, BMI will increase without any corresponding increase in weight. Assumptions about the distribution between muscle mass and fat mass are inexact. BMI generally overestimates adiposity on those with leaner body mass (e.g., athletes) and underestimates excess adiposity on those with fattier body mass. A study in June 2008 by Romero-Corral et al. examined 13,601 subjects from
440-482: A good general correlation with body fat percentage, and noted that obesity has overtaken smoking as the world's number one cause of death. But it also notes that in the study 50% of men and 62% of women were obese according to body fat defined obesity, while only 21% of men and 31% of women were obese according to BMI, meaning that BMI was found to underestimate the number of obese subjects. A 2010 study that followed 11,000 subjects for up to eight years concluded that BMI
495-659: A high muscle-to-fat ratio and therefore a BMI that is misleadingly high relative to their body-fat percentage. A common use of the BMI is to assess how far an individual's body weight departs from what is normal for a person's height. The weight excess or deficiency may, in part, be accounted for by body fat ( adipose tissue ) although other factors such as muscularity also affect BMI significantly (see discussion below and overweight ). The WHO regards an adult BMI of less than 18.5 as underweight and possibly indicative of malnutrition , an eating disorder , or other health problems, while
550-509: A higher risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at BMIs lower than the WHO cut-off point for overweight, 25 kg/m , although the cut-off for observed risk varies among different populations. The cut-off for observed risk varies based on populations and subpopulations in Europe, Asia and Africa. The Hospital Authority of Hong Kong recommends the use of
605-419: A large (or tall) frame and underestimates roughly 10% for a smaller frame (short stature). In other words, people with small frames would be carrying more fat than optimal, but their BMI indicates that they are normal . Conversely, large framed (or tall) individuals may be quite healthy, with a fairly low body fat percentage , but be classified as overweight by BMI. For example, a height/weight chart may say
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#1732783360640660-512: A means to prevent a further increase in BMI. In France, Italy, and Spain, legislation has been introduced banning the usage of fashion show models having a BMI below 18. In Israel, a model with BMI below 18.5 is banned. This is done to fight anorexia among models and people interested in fashion. A study published by Journal of the American Medical Association ( JAMA ) in 2005 showed that overweight people had
715-420: A ratio of a person's weight to their height, has traditionally been used to assess the health of a person as it pertains to weight: under the cut-off point at a BMI of 18.5, a person is considered underweight. The calculation is either weight in kilograms divided by height in meters, squared, or weight in pounds times 703, divided by height in inches, squared. Another measure of underweight is through comparison to
770-613: A side effect. Antidepressants, such as mirtazapine or amitriptyline , and antipsychotics, particularly chlorpromazine and haloperidol , as well as tetrahydrocannabinol (found in cannabis ), all present an increase in appetite as a side effect. In states where it is approved, medicinal cannabis may be prescribed for severe appetite loss, such as that caused by cancer , AIDS , or severe levels of persistent anxiety . Other drugs or supplements which may increase appetite include antihistamines (such as diphenhydramine , promethazine or cyproheptadine ). Body mass index This
825-594: A song by Billie Eilish from her album Hit Me Hard and Soft , 2024 "Skinny Skinny", a song by Ashton Irwin from the 2020 album Superbloom Skinny (novel) , 2004 debut novel of Ibi Kaslik Skinny Pete , a character in the American TV series Breaking Bad Skinnies, an alien race in the science fiction novel Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein Other uses [ edit ] SKINNY (directing team) Skinny Client Control Protocol Skinny pig ,
880-513: A sufficient volume of sufficiently calorie-dense foods. Body weight may also be increased through the consumption of liquid nutritional supplements. Another way for underweight people to gain weight is by exercising, since muscle hypertrophy increases body mass. Weight lifting exercises are effective in helping to improve muscle tone as well as helping with weight gain. Weight lifting has also been shown to improve bone mineral density, which underweight people are more likely to lack. Exercise
935-737: A symptom of an underlying condition , in which case it is secondary. Unexplained weight loss may require a professional medical diagnosis by a physician. Being underweight can also cause other conditions, in which case it is primary. Severely underweight individuals may have poor physical stamina and a weak immune system , leaving them open to infection . According to Robert E. Black of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (JHSPH), "Underweight status ... and micronutrient deficiencies also cause decreases in immune and non-immune host defenses, and should be classified as underlying causes of death if followed by infectious diseases that are
990-437: A vague means of estimating adiposity . The duality of the BMI is that, while it is easy to use as a general calculation, it is limited as to how accurate and pertinent the data obtained from it can be. Generally, the index is suitable for recognizing trends within sedentary or overweight individuals because there is a smaller margin of error. The BMI has been used by the WHO as the standard for recording obesity statistics since
1045-461: Is catabolic , which results in a brief reduction in mass. However, during recovery, anabolic overcompensation causes the muscles to grow , which results in an overall increase in mass. This can happen through an increase in muscle proteins, or through enhanced storage of glycogen in muscles. Exercise can also help stimulate the appetite of a person who is not inclined to eat. Certain drugs may increase appetite either as their primary effect or as
1100-430: Is 22.4 for women and 23.6 for men. High BMI is associated with type 2 diabetes only in people with high serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase . In an analysis of 40 studies involving 250,000 people, patients with coronary artery disease with normal BMIs were at higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease than people whose BMIs put them in the overweight range (BMI 25–29.9). One study found that BMI had
1155-463: Is a convenient rule of thumb used to broadly categorize a person as based on tissue mass ( muscle , fat , and bone ) and height. Major adult BMI classifications are underweight (under 18.5 kg/m ), normal weight (18.5 to 24.9), overweight (25 to 29.9), and obese (30 or more). When used to predict an individual's health, rather than as a statistical measurement for groups, the BMI has limitations that can make it less useful than some of
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#17327833606401210-402: Is an accepted version of this page Body mass index ( BMI ) is a value derived from the mass ( weight ) and height of a person. The BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height , and is expressed in units of kg/m , resulting from mass in kilograms (kg) and height in metres (m). The BMI may be determined first by measuring its components by means of
1265-415: Is associated with certain medical conditions, including type 1 diabetes , hyperthyroidism , cancer , and tuberculosis . People with gastrointestinal or liver problems may be unable to absorb nutrients adequately. People with certain eating disorders can also be underweight due to one or more nutrient deficiencies or excessive exercise , which exacerbates nutrient deficiencies. A common belief
1320-424: Is calculated in the same way as for adults but then compared to typical values for other children or youth of the same age. Instead of comparison against fixed thresholds for underweight and overweight, the BMI is compared against the percentiles for children of the same sex and age. A BMI that is less than the 5th percentile is considered underweight and above the 95th percentile is considered obese. Children with
1375-490: Is expressed in kg/m , resulting from mass in kilograms and height in metres. If pounds and inches are used, a conversion factor of 703 (kg/m )/(lb/in ) is applied. (If pounds and feet are used, a conversion factor of 4.88 is used.) When the term BMI is used informally, the units are usually omitted. BMI provides a simple numeric measure of a person's thickness or thinness , allowing health professionals to discuss weight problems more objectively with their patients. BMI
1430-415: Is not the most appropriate measure for the risk of heart attack, stroke or death. A better measure was found to be the waist-to-height ratio . A 2011 study that followed 60,000 participants for up to 13 years found that waist–hip ratio was a better predictor of ischaemic heart disease mortality. The medical establishment and statistical community have both highlighted the limitations of BMI. Part of
1485-423: Is often better calculated using measures of body fat, as determined by such techniques as skinfold measurements or underwater weighing and the limitations of manual measurement have also led to alternative methods to measure obesity, such as the body volume indicator . It is not clear where on the BMI scale the threshold for overweight and obese should be set. Because of this, the standards have varied over
1540-471: Is that healthy underweight individuals can ‘eat what they want’ and then burn it off either by high levels of activity or elevated metabolism. It has been shown, however, that individuals with BMI < 18.5 eat about 12% less calories than individuals with normal BMI (21.5 to 25) and they are 23% less physically active (by accelerometry). Underweight people tend to have low appetites and typically eat little, sporadically or infrequently. Being underweight can be
1595-465: Is too low. Malnourishment can also cause anemia and hair loss. Being underweight is an established risk factor for osteoporosis , even for young people. This is seen in individuals suffering from relative energy deficiency in sport , formerly known as female athlete triad: when disordered eating or excessive exercise cause amenorrhea, hormone changes during ovulation leads to loss of bone mineral density. After this low bone mineral density causes
1650-627: The Ponderal index is based on the natural scaling of mass with the third power of the height. However, many taller people are not just "scaled up" short people but tend to have narrower frames in proportion to their height. Carl Lavie has written that "The B.M.I. tables are excellent for identifying obesity and body fat in large populations, but they are far less reliable for determining fatness in individuals." For US adults, exponent estimates range from 1.92 to 1.96 for males and from 1.45 to 1.95 for females. The BMI overestimates roughly 10% for
1705-501: The alternatives , especially when applied to individuals with abdominal obesity , short stature , or high muscle mass . BMIs under 20 and over 25 have been associated with higher all-cause mortality, with the risk increasing with distance from the 20–25 range. Adolphe Quetelet , a Belgian astronomer , mathematician, statistician , and sociologist , devised the basis of the BMI between 1830 and 1850 as he developed what he called "social physics". Quetelet himself never intended for
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1760-555: The 1990s the World Health Organization (WHO) decided that a BMI of 25 to 30 should be considered overweight and a BMI over 30 is obese, the standards the NIH set. This became the definitive guide for determining if someone is overweight. One study found that the vast majority of people labelled 'overweight' and 'obese' according to current definitions do not in fact face any meaningful increased risk for early death. In
1815-458: The BMI will be mostly correct when determining a person to be obese, but can err quite frequently when determining a person not to be. Despite this undercounting of obesity by BMI, BMI values in the intermediate BMI range of 20–30 were found to be associated with a wide range of body fat percentages. For men with a BMI of 25, about 20% have a body fat percentage below 20% and about 10% have body fat percentage above 30%. Body composition for athletes
1870-730: The UK, NICE guidance recommends prevention of type 2 diabetes should start at a BMI of 30 in White and 27.5 in Black African , African-Caribbean , South Asian , and Chinese populations. Research since 2021 based on a large sample of almost 1.5 million people in England found that some ethnic groups would benefit from prevention at or above a BMI of (rounded): In 1998, the U.S. National Institutes of Health brought U.S. definitions in line with World Health Organization guidelines, lowering
1925-472: The United States' third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) and found that BMI-defined obesity (BMI ≥ 30) was present in 21% of men and 31% of women. Body fat-defined obesity was found in 50% of men and 62% of women. While BMI-defined obesity showed high specificity (95% for men and 99% for women), BMI showed poor sensitivity (36% for men and 49% for women). In other words,
1980-1027: The average man would be elaborated upon by Francis Galton a decade later in the development of Eugenics . The modern term "body mass index" (BMI) for the ratio of human body weight to squared height was coined in a paper published in the July 1972 edition of the Journal of Chronic Diseases by Ancel Keys and others. In this paper, Keys argued that what he termed the BMI was "if not fully satisfactory, at least as good as any other relative weight index as an indicator of relative obesity". The interest in an index that measures body fat came with observed increasing obesity in prosperous Western societies. Keys explicitly judged BMI as appropriate for population studies and inappropriate for individual evaluation. Nevertheless, due to its simplicity, it has come to be widely used for preliminary diagnoses. Additional metrics, such as waist circumference, can be more useful. The BMI
2035-492: The average weight of a cohort of people of a similar age and height: people who are at least 15% to 20% below the average weight for the group are considered underweight. Body fat percentage has been suggested as another way to assess whether a person is underweight. Unlike the body mass index, which is a proxy measurement , the body fat percentage takes into account the difference in composition between adipose tissue (fat cells) and muscle tissue and their different roles in
2090-464: The body. The American Council on Exercise defines the amount of essential fat, below which a person is underweight, as 10–13% for women and 2–5% for men. The greater amount of essential body fat in women supports reproductive function. Using the body mass index as a measure of weight-related health, with data from 2014, age-standardised global prevalence of underweight in women and men were 9.7% and 8.8%, respectively. These values were lower than what
2145-660: The early 1980s. This general correlation is particularly useful for consensus data regarding obesity or various other conditions because it can be used to build a semi-accurate representation from which a solution can be stipulated, or the RDA for a group can be calculated. Similarly, this is becoming more and more pertinent to the growth of children, since the majority of children are sedentary. Cross-sectional studies indicated that sedentary people can decrease BMI by becoming more physically active. Smaller effects are seen in prospective cohort studies which lend to support active mobility as
2200-474: The edge of small/medium or medium/large, common sense should be used in calculating one's ideal weight. However, falling into one's ideal weight range for height and build is still not as accurate in determining health risk factors as waist-to-height ratio and actual body fat percentage. Accurate frame size calculators use several measurements (wrist circumference, elbow width, neck circumference, and others) to determine what category an individual falls into for
2255-507: The first spontaneous fractures, the damage is often irreversible. Although being underweight has been reported to increase mortality at rates comparable to that seen in morbidly obese people, the effect is much less drastic when restricted to non-smokers with no history of disease, suggesting that smoking and disease-related weight loss are the leading causes of the observed effect. Underweight individuals may be advised to gain weight by increasing calorie intake. This can be done by eating
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2310-778: The following BMI ranges: A 2000 study from the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO) presents the following table of BMI categories: In Singapore, the BMI cut-off figures were revised in 2005 by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), motivated by studies showing that many Asian populations, including Singaporeans, have a higher proportion of body fat and increased risk for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus , compared with general BMI recommendations in other countries. The BMI cut-offs are presented with an emphasis on health risk rather than weight. In
2365-438: The ideal weight (BMI 21.5) for a 1.78-metre-tall (5 ft 10 in) man is 68 kilograms (150 lb). But if that man has a slender build (small frame), he may be overweight at 68 kg or 150 lb and should reduce by 10% to roughly 61 kg or 135 lb (BMI 19.4). In the reverse, the man with a larger frame and more solid build should increase by 10%, to roughly 75 kg or 165 lb (BMI 23.7). If one teeters on
2420-576: The index, then called the Quetelet Index, to be used as a means of medical assessment. Instead, it was a component of his study of l'homme moyen , or the average man. Quetelet thought of the average man as a social ideal, and developed the body mass index as a means of discovering the socially ideal human person. According to Lars Grue and Arvid Heiberg in the Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, Quetelet's idealization of
2475-651: The normal/overweight cut-off from a BMI of 27.8 (men) and 27.3 (women) to a BMI of 25. This had the effect of redefining approximately 25 million Americans, previously healthy , to overweight . This can partially explain the increase in the overweight diagnosis in the past 20 years , and the increase in sales of weight loss products during the same time. WHO also recommends lowering the normal/overweight threshold for southeast Asian body types to around BMI 23, and expects further revisions to emerge from clinical studies of different body types. A survey in 2007 showed 63% of Americans were then overweight or obese, with 26% in
2530-485: The obese category (a BMI of 30 or more). By 2014, 37.7% of adults in the United States were obese, 35.0% of men and 40.4% of women; class 3 obesity (BMI over 40) values were 7.7% for men and 9.9% for women. The U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2015-2016 showed that 71.6% of American men and women had BMIs over 25. Obesity—a BMI of 30 or more—was found in 39.8% of the US adults. The BMI ranges are based on
2585-479: The past few decades. Between 1980 and 2000 the U.S. Dietary Guidelines have defined overweight at a variety of levels ranging from a BMI of 24.9 to 27.1. In 1985 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus conference recommended that overweight BMI be set at a BMI of 27.8 for men and 27.3 for women. In 1998, an NIH report concluded that a BMI over 25 is overweight and a BMI over 30 is obese. In
2640-419: The relationship between body weight and disease and death. Overweight and obese individuals are at an increased risk for the following diseases: Among people who have never smoked, overweight/obesity is associated with 51% increase in mortality compared with people who have always been a normal weight. The BMI is generally used as a means of correlation between groups related by general mass and can serve as
2695-434: The same body shape and relative composition have a larger BMI. BMI is proportional to the mass and inversely proportional to the square of the height. So, if all body dimensions double, and mass scales naturally with the cube of the height, then BMI doubles instead of remaining the same. This results in taller people having a reported BMI that is uncharacteristically high, compared to their actual body fat levels. In comparison,
2750-428: The scale is often biased. As noted by sociologist Sabrina Strings, the BMI is largely inaccurate for black people especially, disproportionately labelling them as overweight even for healthy individuals. The exponent in the denominator of the formula for BMI is arbitrary. The BMI depends upon weight and the square of height. Since mass increases to the third power of linear dimensions, taller individuals with exactly
2805-475: The statistical limitations of the BMI scale is the result of Quetelet's original sampling methods. As noted in his primary work, A Treatise on Man and the Development of His Faculties, the data from which Quetelet derived his formula was taken mostly from Scottish Highland soldiers and French Gendarmerie . The BMI was always designed as a metric for European men. For women, and people of non-European origin,
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#17327833606402860-539: The terminal associated causes." People who are malnourished raise special concerns, as not only gross caloric intake may be inadequate, but also intake and absorption of other vital nutrients, especially essential amino acids and micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals . In women, being severely underweight, often as a result of an eating disorder or due to excessive strenuous exercise, can result in amenorrhea (absence of menstruation), infertility or complications during pregnancy if gestational weight gain
2915-482: The title Skinny . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Skinny&oldid=1246391582 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Nicknames Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Underweight The body mass index ,
2970-430: Was designed to be used as a simple means of classifying average sedentary (physically inactive) populations, with an average body composition . For such individuals, the BMI value recommendations as of 2014 are as follows: 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m may indicate optimal weight, lower than 18.5 may indicate underweight , 25 to 29.9 may indicate overweight , and 30 or more may indicate obese . Lean male athletes often have
3025-439: Was reported for 1975 as 14.6% and 13.8%, respectively, indicating a worldwide reduction in the extent of undernutrition. A person may be underweight due to genetics , poor absorption of nutrients, increased metabolic rate or energy expenditure, lack of food (frequently due to poverty ), low appetite , drugs that affect appetite , illness (physical or mental) or the eating disorder anorexia nervosa . Being underweight
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