I've posted here complaining about my awful, terrible, no-good obeast receptionist before. Obviously I have other coworkers, they mostly range from average to fit to thin. (I'd describe myself as average BTW, not American average but actually average)
My work friend was seeing the doctor due to some symptoms of carpal tunnel. She is a tiny Pacific/Asian lady, probably 4-11" and around 99 lbs. She talks about her weight a lot, saying she wishes she could gain a few pounds, as being over 100 lbs would make her feel more "womanly." Haha, yes, turning the whole "REEEE-al Woman" thing around.
Totally unsolicited, her doctor started bugging her about her weight. She was repeatedly told she was MALNOURISHED. Based on nothing but her appearance. Friend said her BMI was calculated at 20. Twenty!!
She was almost in tears. I told her not to worry, 20 is totally good. It's on the lower side of normal, but it's not even in underweight category, is it? Besides, coworker eats plenty, I see her chow down at lunch on the daily and she's always talking about the endless dinners and banquets her friends and family put on. I asked her if the doctor was fat, and she said "she was American, it's hard to tell."
Burrrnnnnn. Would this be reverse-thin-privilege? Skinny shaming?
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[–] the_spectre 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Malnourishment doesn't necessarily mean "too thin." BMI says nothing about your body's ability to absorb nutrients.
If your friend really does "eat and eat" but never gains any weight, then there may be something very wrong with her ability to absorb nutrients.
There's really no way to know unless she either gets some tests our counts her calories. Either she's actually malnourished or she just doesn't eat as much as you seem to think she does.
Either way, it'd be best for her health to take the cautious route and just assume that the "malnourishment" comment may have to do with something other than her BMI and the fact that she's thin; there are, in fact, other visual indicators of malnourishment than skinniness.
[–] AislesOnFire [S] ago
I do appreciate the concern! All I have to go on is what my friend described to me, which was based on her labs (normal) and BMI. It just seemed very incongruent to me but obvi I am not a physician. Friend has started a multivitamin supplement out of caution.
[–] RedditThoughtPolice ago (edited ago)
I would decide one way or the other based solely on if or not my doctor was a fatty.