We all have that one skinny friend who can eat anything and not gain weight. Similarly, we also know of someone who weighs more than everyone else but is in great shape.
One of the biggest stereotypes in society is that being skinny means you’re happier, prettier and healthier than everyone else, and as a result many women strive to be slim in order to live up to the image that has been set as beautiful by society.
What many people fail to understand is that your body weight is not an accurate indication of your body’s health.
And as much as it is common knowledge that the bigger you become the more at risk you are of suffering from health-related issues such as heart attacks and diabetes, you can be skinny and also be at risk of getting these health diseases. And sometimes with even more severe consequences.
Here are 5 reasons why being skinny doesn’t equal healthy:
1. You could be skinny fat
Yes there’s such a thing. You might look great in clothes or in a bikini and have a normal BMI (body mass index) but if you don’t have enough muscles underneath you’re just as unhealthy as an obese person.
Skinny fat people look great on the outside but when they get checked up by doctors you’ll find they have high levels of body fat and inflammation.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association if you are skinny fat and get diagnosed with diabetes, you run twice the risk of dying than if you’re overweight. Infact 1 in 4 skinny people have pre-diabetes and are “metabolically obese”.
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2. Being thin wont automatically make you happy
For the past few years the joy of my life was robbed by the need to be thin. I accepted comments like "you would look even prettier if you were thinner" as compliments and didn't realise that I was being body shamed.
It is only now that I have started to accept my body and my curves. I always used to think that I would be happier and more beautiful if I was skinny.
But I realised that my happiness had nothing to do with the size of my jeans and I mean, you can be happy and overweight and be thin and sick so why jeorpadise your health for being skinny?
3. You could be super thin
Being too thin comes with health risks such as Osteopenia/Osteoporosis and Infertility.
According to Oz Garcia Ph.D being too skinny makes a lot of people think that they are immune to health issues and that causes them to live unhealthy lifestyle and end up being diagnosed with serious health issues.
4. Health comes in all shapes and sizes
I cannot stress this enough: being healthy should not be defined by one standard look and we are all born with different body shapes. Some of us have curves that don’t disappear no matter how skinny we become, it’s important to embrace your body type.
5. Health is balance
In order to be healthy you need to find balance in your life, your sleep, work, family time, exercises, diet and stress should all be balanced.
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