UAE experts highlight the dangers of being too thin

It has many detrimental effects on physical and mental health, say experts.

ABU DHABI // Being too thin has many detrimental effects on physical and mental health, say experts.

“When one is too thin it leads to black-and-white thinking. People think they can’t be happy unless they are a certain size and they reward themselves only when they reach that size,” said Dr Lavina Ahuja, consultant psychologist at Lifeworks Dubai.

“People need to understand that not all size zeroes are happy and, if it were so, models would be the happiest people. People shun certain foods and they think if they have had it, they are bad as they have had a bad food.

“They are setting themselves up to fail. Sometimes people say they will only go on holiday when they reach a certain weight and they are only postponing something that might make them happy. They might feel they don’t deserve the holiday and they are devaluing themselves.”

Her advice is that if you are concerned about someone being too thin, talk to them about it and tell them or talk to a counsellor.

“Many people who have come to me for help have only come because their friends made the appointment and got them to go,” she said.

One’s physical health is obviously affected as the person does not get sufficient nutrients and vitamins.

This can delay the onset of puberty, can stop menstruation and, eventally, harm fertility, said Mirey Karavetian, assistant professor of nutrition at Zayed University in Dubai.

She said everyone must eat normal food and have some body fat to enable hormones to function properly.