BMI of 15.1

[IncessantNameChanger]

A relative has a bmi of 15.1.

They are 8lbs heavier than my ten year old. They are almost 2 stone lighter than my 21 year son who weighs 7.13 and who my friend repeatedly asks if he is balemic or anorexic. My son is extremely thin.

Yet they look OK to me. They have always been thin. I'm just shocked. This is quite underweight isn't it?

I feel I have somehow lost sight of them being very very slim because it's just them. Some sort of reverse body dismorphia?. I'm also shocked when my friend asks if my son has a eating disorder too. For reference I'm very fat.

A BMI of 15.1 is classed as severe anorexia.

Your son at 7 st 13 - how tall is he? What is his BMI?

How old?

if under 18 bmi is not always helpful.

My son is 5,7 or maybe 5,8. His bmi is 17 I think off the top of my head so just under normal range. He eats an incredible amount of food and quite inactive and not very strong. He is normally very covered up in baggy clothes.

Can you be anorexic just on bmi?

This other relative I have always thought slim but this news is eye opening. I just saw them as slim. Not unhealthy and I'm struggling to wonder why I can't see it?

I had a friend who I did think was anorexic. But it wasn't just her very tiny frame. It was her eating habits and constant talk of her unexplained weight loss. So she would tell me she was being investigated for mysterious weight loss while eating half a finger roll. I felt uncomfortable eating around her so it was more noticeable.

How old is the relative?

my skinny 13 year old is 5 foot 9 and 9 stone so your son does sound like he must be very thin. Does he have any medical conditions at all? Has he always been very skinny?

75

Are they small in height too?

Yes I had pre eclampsia while pg with him. He was 5lbs at birth. Loose skin over bone. He has always been thin. I presume it's due to the pre eclampsia. He can eat 6000 plus calories a day. I joke he will put on weight when his metabolism slows down, but he is pretty sloth like at the most active. Surprisingly he can hold his alcohol for someone so slim. Not that he drinks very often. Thank god.

Hmm, 5,6? Fairly adverage I think for a woman

Is your son diabetic? Does he have a medical condition?

Some people can eat more calories than others, but its not normal to eat 6000kcal a day, be completely inactive and be underweight. Metabolisms aren't actually that variable

Weight can be difficult to judge, and actually it's not really your responsibility to guess someone's BMI unless it's you or your child. People don't often publish their true weight so you won't be able to accurately judge someone's BMI

So she weighs 6 stone at 5,;6?

That sounds very light to me but if they eat and are otherwise fit and healthy then maybe it’s ok

Are you sure your son is keeping his food down? You say he wears ‘very baggy clothes’. Is that for the fashion or is he deliberately covering up his body? Could he be bulimic, would you know?

My relative is extra-thin racing snake build and has always been like that. It is his natural body frame and he's just made that way. His BMI comes up as underweight - I calculated it once but can't remember what it is offhand.

@IncessantNameChanger has your son been checked for diabetes and/or coeliac disease? Eating 6,000 calories a day and being very thin and tired all the time is ringing alarm bells.

He needs to see a GP.

Anyone that light need to see a Dr.

My bmi is 16. I am not anorexic, nor do i have an eating disorder.

I think this thread is confusing
if I’m reading it right you have a 76 year old remain relative who is 5 ft 6 with a bmi of 15. You are asking if that indicates anorexia. I would say maybe but if she’s been that thin for a long time it may just be how she’s aged. If she’s lost a lot of weight recently she should see a doctor.
then you have a 21 year old 5 ft 8 son with bmi of 17. That wouldn’t concern me unless you have other reasons to ve concerned about his relationship with food.

Yes my sons had all sorts of tests as he sleeps most of the day. Nothing has ever come up. When my friend was very insistent he was far too thin and I told her how much he eats, she suggested balemia so I asked him outright. He insisted he isn't. He has amazing teeth too.

Baggy clothes? He is a bit of a goth so it's fashion party but he hates exposing any flesh. He looks like a jacket potatoe with two cocktail sticks for legs if he wears skinny jeans and a hoody. Which he hasn't for years but that was a OMG moment when I did worry about him. He was thinner than Kate Moss by far. He still is you just can't see it. We'll I clearly can't

With the relative, she has been unwell so was weighed in front of another relative at hospital and they was shocked too. So not guessing. She is my height give or take a smidge and weighs 6.4 which I dont find alarming in itself. Until it dawned on me that my son gets constant comments on his weight which I mostly don't worry about and my tiny short arse gymnast ballet mad ten year dd is a few pounds lighter. My dd is very short. She isn't predicted to reach 5 foot as a adult.

So now I'm wondering if I'm seeing extremely thin as normal. Or is just harder to see when someone close to you has always been thin? My dd is?a adult size four. My relative must be that or less. I'd never have guessed.

What's concerning me is that I think I have become blind to people I'm close too being super thin as it's become normal. Like my relative.

Which in turn is making me question if my son is too thin.

I don't think my relative is anorexic. If she is, she always has been. She has been ill and was weighed a week later. She hasn't got this light in a week. Dh was saying she is so thin, so frail and I'm thinking "she looks OK to me".

Has your son's thyroid bloods been checked? It sounds like he could have an overactive thyroid.

Super skinny is really normal for late teens to late twenties. It’s also really normal for people in their seventies. On its own within those age groups it doesn’t indicate an eating disorder

Not a disorder necessarily. But a huge risk for any illness. Because if you get serious flu or diarrhea and you’re 10 stone, you’re fine. 75 and 6 stone, you could die.

And your kid eating 6k calories and sleeping all day? I’d make more of a fuss!

Are you also blind to a 21 year old sleeping all day?
I wouldn’t focus too much on a 75 year old’s BMI,
as some kind of comparison..

Maybe look into how he became a 21 year old male adult, eats little, very thin, dressed in black and most likely doesn’t work..
He may need therapy, have depression - or he may need a long overdue kick up the arse.
You are the best placed person to know which it is.

But unfortunately; whilst you are exploring the ‘data’ of BMI, and how you personally might interpret / identify thin people - or not.. I think you are missing the point!

Yes but just the basic NHS tests. I did offer to get him full private ones but I didnt get round to it and he's back at uni. I think I need to book that in for Christmas when he is back. He has been medically unfit to work in the past due to depression and anxiety after school refusal. He was burnt out after his A levels mentally so he is very well known to the Dr who hasn't to my knowledge commented on his weight. But before and after he has always been the same weight since he stopped growing around 16. It's his

Honestly if you saw him in the street he wouldn't draw anyone's attention. It's only because I know his exact weight.

I am worried about my 75 year relative. She has no reserve left as said above if gets noro or covid etc.

A low bmi does not necessarily indicate anorexia.

my mother is 80 and has a very low bmi.
she has dementia and regularly forgets to eat.

people who have been severely unwell (cancer, similar) often have very low bmi’s as they are very thin. This is often due to illness.

my mum is scarily thin.

You can get private Thyroid checks to see what's going on. It doesn't sound right if he's eating 6000 kcals, sleeping all day and weighing that little. I think it could be an over active thyroid also.