Piling It On

- Jennifer Bowden

Question:

What’s your advice for a healthy weight-gain diet? The frail, especially elderly, need to eat properly, but it can be hard to find the motivation to cook when you live alone.

Answer: Not all weight loss is desirable or intentional, a fact often overlooked in a society that praises the pursuit of thinness. It can be the result of a personal crisis or illness.

Indeed, unintended weight loss in people aged over 60 can be an early sign of prostate, ovarian, lung, pancreatic and colorectal cancers, according to a recent study in the British Journal of General Practice.

Being underweight can also be a matter of genetics. At the extreme end, British researchers found people with a specific set of genes on chromosome 16 were significantly more likely to be underweight, to the point that some children died of malnutrition and their parents were accused of neglect.

Often, however, being underweight is the result of not eating enough to fuel your body. For children who are active and still growing, one of the key risks of being underweight is long-term stunting; that is, not reaching full height potential.