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Spinal Cord Injuries & Weight Gain / Obesity / Loss

One of the major problems affecting a persons health with a spinal cord injury today, is obesity and the control of weight gain. Due to the sedentary lifestyle due to paralysis, it can be very easy to pile on the pounds, but unfortunately, it is far harder to lose them.

A healthy balanced diet is essential for someone with a spinal cord injury, not just to regulate their weight, but as the minerals and vitamins will keep the skin healthy, this will help to prevent pressure sores and keep the immune system healthy.

If someone with a spinal cord injury gains too much weight and is affected by obesity, it will effect their mobility, having to push those extra pounds around in their wheelchair will place extra stress on the shoulders resulting in pain, and damage to the shoulder joints. It will also become harder to transfer from their wheelchair to their bed, and may affect other area's of their independence.

A paralysed person simply cannot eat the same amounts of food long term as they did when they were able bodied without gaining weight. As major muscle groups will be paralysed, they will not be burning calories at the same rate as pre injury levels. This will lead to the excess calories being stored as fat, the body's natural way of saving surplus energy for later use.

Being underweight can be just as damaging as well, as different problems can occure such as skin breakdown due to bony protrusions, usually on the hips, buttocks and sacrum, and if a poor diet is responsible for loss of weight, thinning of the bones can occure, even more so for women who may be more susceptible to osteoporosis.

Also the immune system may become weakened, leading to the susceptibility to infections such as colds, flu, and in extreme cases even pnumonia. As there will not be any energy stored in the form of fat on an underweight person, stamina and strength may also be compromised.

The following chart can be used as a guide only, to calculate your body mass index, which in turn tells you how healthy your weight is depending on a calculation made by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height (height x height) in metres. Please note though that the chart below is for able boded people and not those with a spinal cord injury who may have a different body composition due to muscle atrophy.

For a body weight chart relating to people with Spinal cord injuries and amputations, we have included the HAMWI chart at the bottom of this page, however, so far we have been able to find little information on how this chart was derived, and therefore cannot guarantee it's accuracy.

Body Mass Index Chart