Do you know if your current weight is healthy? “Underweight”, “normal”, “overweight”, and “obese” are all labels for ranges of weight.

Obese and overweight mean that your weight is greater than it should be for your health. Underweight means that it is lower than it should be for your health. Your healthy body weight depends on your sex and height. For children, it also depends on your age.

A sudden, unexpected change in weight can be a sign of a medical problem.

Causes for sudden weight loss can include

• Thyroid problems

• Cancer

• Infectious diseases

• Digestive diseases

.Certain medicines

• Sudden weight gain can be due to medicines, thyroid problems, heart failure, and kidney disease.

Good nutrition and exercise can help in losing weight. Eating extra calories within a well-balanced diet and treating any underlying medical problems can help to add weight.

Malnutrition

Food provides the energy and nutrients you need to be healthy. If you don’t get enough nutrients — including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals – you may suffer from malnutrition.

Causes of malnutrition include:

• Lack of specific nutrients in your diet. Even the lack of one vitamin can lead to malnutrition.

• An unbalanced diet

• Certain medical problems, such as malabsorption syndromes and cancers

Symptoms may include fatigue, dizziness, and weight loss. Or, you may have no symptoms. To diagnose the cause of the problem, your doctor may do blood tests and a nutritional assessment. Treatment may include replacing the missing nutrients and treating the underlying cause.