I am 37, 5 foot 9 inches tall with a BMI of 32

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Question

I am 37, 5 foot 9 inches tall with a BMI of 32. I am currently being assessed to take on care of my 5 year old great niece, everything else is going brilliant but seems social services think I’m over weight. Although in the last 12 months I’ve gone from a size 18 to 14. I have seen women much bigger than myself who are caring for young family members, I’m not totally sure of my weight.

Shell.


Answer

Hi Shell,

I guess that you are looking for some advice on losing weight? If you are 5’9” and your BMI is 32, you must weigh around 218 pounds. Your ideal weight will be below 169 pounds.

However, you are not what is called morbidly obese (BMI over 40) so I do not see how you could be considered too overweight to care for a child. You are young too, which means that you are probably relatively healthy.

Do you exercise? If not, start exercising and tell social services that you are exercising daily to improve fitness and that your BMI is not actually so high to put you at any significant health risk at present, and you are working on getting fitter and slimmer.

One Comment on “I am 37, 5 foot 9 inches tall with a BMI of 32”

  1. Thanks for the reply, majority of the places i go to i walk so most days i could walk between 15-20 miles aday plus im constanlty on the go doing things around the home. I eat healthy most days. On the medical ive had my doctor has no concerns what so ever over my abilities or health to care for my niece which he has clearly stated on the report. I know women who are extremely bigger than me who have been approved to care for family members younger than my great niece who also have medical problems. I now feel they are after any excuse not to place her with myself which they are struggling to find. Thanks for the info

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