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age
36-40,
anonymous
writes: Hii Aunties and Uncles,basically, I have a pen pal who lives several hundred miles north from me and she recently had surgery and lost a lot of weight. In her last letter to me she said she weighs 100lbs (7stone 2lbs) and she's 5foot 6.5 inches.Is this very underweight?? I haven't seen pictures but I'm worried for her as she says she doesn't really want to gain more than five lbs since she likes how she is now.Is she in danger of wrecking her body by being so low?Thanks! xx
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female
reader, tennisstar88  +, writes (11 November 2010):
 Yes, your pen pal is underweight..Urge her to seek professional help right away for her eating disorder.
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male
reader, baddogbj  +, writes (9 November 2010):
 It's light for the UK but over here in Asia it would be a very normal weight. I have a friend who weighs 90 lbs but she is fit and heathly and has great muscle tone.
What matters is, does she look healthy, does the skin look healthy, are the muscles firm, does she have energy?
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female
reader, maverick494 +, writes (9 November 2010):
The follow up unfortunately confirms what you've been thinking. Yes, she definitely has anorexia. I remember saying the exact same thing to my friends when I talked about Christmas. Lose a couple more so I wouldn't gain that much. After that I went down hill fast. I hope you can get through to her!
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reader, anonymous, writes (9 November 2010): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionher surgery wasn't a gastric band, it was on an orthopaedic problem in her leg and she just lost her appetite after surgery and didn't feel the need to eat.
She used to play highly competitive badminton with a ton of training that required an insane amount of carbohydrates - but she still maintained a healthy weight of roughly 120/122 lbs.
She loves Christmas and says she wants to be a really low weight so she doesn't gain too much over Christmas - she refuses to eat healthily over Crimboli :)
thanks for all your help!
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female
reader, Tisha-1 +, writes (9 November 2010):
 This is very underweight and unless she is under a doctor's care, she is at risk for a number of health issues. You can't fix this for her, she has to take care of herself. I have a link for you to give to her, if you are so concerned. It has some information on underweight adults and what this can do to your body's bones, immune system, reproductive system and other organs. There is a body weight assessment tool which then leads to resources for underweight adults.
You are a nice person for being concerned for her health. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot you can do for her. Give her the information and I hope she seeks help, if she is not under a doctor's care at the moment.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/Underweightadults.aspx
Take care.
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female
reader, maverick494 +, writes (9 November 2010):
First off: you're a great friend to her, looking out for her like that.
Since I don't know her eating habits and the specifics of her situation, I can't say for sure, but she sounds like she might be.
Was the weight loss a direct consequence of the surgery? (for example gastric band that restricts food intake for overweight people.) If so, she is probably thrilled by the weightloss and wants to see how far she can go. This puts her at risk for an eating disorder like anorexia. In this case make sure if you're right or whether she is just experiencing some side effects.
If the weight loss is not connected to the surgery there really is a cause for alarm. Drastic weight loss without supervision to a weight so low is not good. Ask her if she still has her period. If not, she is at risk for osteoporosis. This means that her bones will become brittle and fragile. There are many young anorexics with the bone structure of a 70 y/o. You can get that within a year!
Tell her to seek help from a dietician to maintain her weight. (Anorexics will not listen when you tell them to gain weight.) Tell her that a bad eating pattern slows down her metabolism to snail pace and that it will be extremely hard to stay slim that way. Also tell her about all the health risks of her lifestyle.
Other than that, you can't do much. Just be there for her and don't push her. Anorexics react badly to that. How I know? I used to be one....
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