I was looking at my Personal Health Report today for the first time, and I noticed it had three dots by the weight column, meaning a high risk. When I checked it, it said I had a low weight for someone of my height. I am five feet seven inches tall and weigh 115 pounds. Is that wrong for a young model?

--Liz

Being underweight has almost as many potential health consequences as being overweight. Ideal weight for height depends on several factors, including bone structure. A good rule of thumb for determining an appropriate weight for a given height is to allow 100 pounds for the first five feet, and then (for women) add five pounds for every inch over that. A woman with a heavy bone structure should add an additional 10 percent, while someone with a thin frame should subtract 10 percent. At 5 feet 7 inches, therefore, you should weigh in the neighborhood of 135 pounds.

Being underweight and poor nutritional status often go hand-in-hand. Often, someone on a restrictive diet does not get in the proper mix of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. Inadequate intake of calcium early in life substantially increases the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Being underweight also may lead to infertility; a certain amount of body fat is necessary for ovulation to occur.

The obsession with thinness in our culture is unhealthy -- unhealthy physically as well as mentally. It is a sad reflection of our times that young women starve themselves and exercise obsessively in order to look like they could be on the cover of fashion magazines. It is a sad reflection on our society when girls in high school -- and even junior high and elementary school -- hate themselves because they have hips and their cheekbones don't protrude. It will be a better day when we all learn to accept ourselves as we are, and when a 135 pound, five-foot-seven-inch model is on the cover of Glamour.