Is my adult son too underweight?

[DyslexicPoster]

He is 5,8 and weights 8,6 in a stirt, hoody, joggers and full of greggs.

He wears very baggy clothes but even in his loose joggers he looks thin. I thought he has lost weight so he pulled his top up and he is very slim . He weighed himself in front of me and he is the same weight he has aways been. He was 7.10 -8.7. He was eating at the time so I guess he is really closer to 8 stone. His bmi at 8,6 is 17.9.

How old is he? You say adult, but you seem to be treating him as a child.
It does seem like a low weight, but what are your concerns? Illness, eating disorder or something else?

Come on, you KNOW a man who is 8 stone 6, at 5 ft 8 is too light/too thin. Probably weighs 8 st 3 without clothes on/first thing in the morning! Can't believe you even need to ask! He is obviously too thin/too light.

He has always been thin and this is the heaviest he has ever been in his life. I know he is underweight however he is only a few decimal points off being a healthy weight surely? A bmi of 18 is a normal bmi

Don't believe in sugarcoating eh?

When you say adult, do you mean a 20 year old who could still be growing, or a 40 year old who should know better?

OP, are you or he concerned there might be an underlying cause? Hyperthyroid and some cancers cause extreme weight loss. If he has always been very thin then you could suggest he gets his thyroid level checked out. If he's always tired or has nausea and upset stomach then he could need testing for coeliac or IBS.

Is he definitely eating enough? DS2 can genuinely forget to eat all day long. So he might seem like he's eating well in the evening but if a main meal is between 600-1000 cals then that's not a lot if it's the only thing sthey've eaten all day.

Although they are adults I nag my DC to take their vitamins and iron supplements. He could start by taking those and maybe tracking his calories for a while.

If he wants to bulk out - DS used vanilla protein powder in banana and peanut butter milkshakes or stirred into natural full fat yoghurt with honey and nuts. He'd just have one protein shake or one bowl of the yoghurt on top of what he normally ate each day. It helped get his weight back on track.

He is 20, when he was 17 and 11 months he was a healthy weight at around this weight. The day he turned 18 the same height and weight he was underweight. He looks visually thinner buy I weighed him without prior warning so he hasn't actually lost and weight.

A friend said something to me about him so maybe I'm being more aware. If he was a girl at this height and weight I don't think anyone would blink or think it's out of the realms of normal. But at the same time he I'd never in tight or revealing clothes

Is he eating plenty?

I've come across many men around the age of 18-22 that eat like horses but are super skinny!

@OwlWeiwei yes I'm worried there might be something going on. As he is now an adult, he had a full battery of bloods, but he didn't know why. They want to run extra thyroid and cortisol tests. But he has always been very thin. He was just under 5 pounds at birth but quite long. I could have got my wedding ring around his ankle for example if it wasn't for his foot. I was induced at 37 weeks with pre eclampsia so some time around 32 weeks he stopped growing. It think he will always be slight.

He eats vast amounts of food. I'm guessing 4000-6000 calories easily some days. However I might just be seeing him pack in lots late at night. He has been a big eater since 12.

He went out drinking recently had McDonald's. His two mates food then four greggs bakes.

The thyroid test worries me, friend thinks he has a eating disorder but I don't see it. I never hear he being sick. He eats a lot but unless he is drunk ( very rare) he doesn't binge. He has perfect amazing teeth so can't see him making himself sick. Also hasn't really lost weight. Dentist commented on his perfect teeth this week.

Just a niggling worry but I can't put my finger on anything solid. He is as has slways been. The Dr isn't chasing him for more blood, he seems his normal self. His weight isn't much below being normal. If he put on 4lbs he wouldn't even be underweight. But I look at him, and for some reason I thought "god you are so thin"

Coeliac disease?

I wonder if that was in his blood test? I might ask him how much access he has to his records on his nhs app. I don't think he ever gets cramps or the runs. At least he's never said. He is very rarely ill, and when he is he makes sure we know. Lots of "I dying! Look at me! I look like death!". I know he is an adult but it's a weird age.

The Dr might have said something and it's not sunk in.

I told him today I'm worried. He seemed quite chipper and said he was sure he hasn't dropped weight. Nothing points to eating disorder. Nothing new to suggest he is ill.

He is my eldest so he has got three school age siblings. He is an adult, I do find this a weird stage as he involved me in his health apps until he turned 18 and I told him he was a adult and he needed to take control.

Following as my DS is a similar age and I could have written the OP. Not sure why there’s been a bit of a pile on in early comments.

There's always a pile on. This MN after all! No competitive under eating in my house. All the kids are thin, except for one who has ASD and is visibly over weight. Me and dh are fat. Everyone eats a lot. Very little junk or processed foods.

It's just weirdly from nowhere started worrying me yesterday. I looked at legs in his age 13-14 baggy joggers and from nowhere thought "god I can see you are worryingly thin" he was at one point 5,8" 7 stone 10 in the middle of the day with heavy clothes on with a 27" waist. But this is the first time I have looked at him and worried.

Maybe it's the full moon driving me batty.

He has a lot of the symptoms of graves disease as I have just Googled it. But being objective, he is the same as he has always been?