Adopting a child in the UK involves a rigorous assessment process. This helps to ensure that prospective adopters understand the realities of adoption, and that children are matched with safe, loving families who can meet their needs.
Part of this process includes an adoption medical. This is a key aspect of an adoption assessment, as it provides adoption agencies with a valuable insight into the health of a prospective adopter, and how it relates to their capacity to care for a child, and provide a stable home well into adulthood.
In today’s blog, we’re exploring the issues of adopting when overweight and asking, ‘What role does BMI play in adoption medicals?
What Is BMI and Why Does It Matter to Health?
First of all, we need to understand what BMI actually is and how it relates to our health.
BMI stands for ‘Body Mass Index’. It’s a screening tool that measures a person’s height against their weight. This helps to calculate whether or not a person is carrying extra weight or fat.
At its most basic, BMI is calculated by measuring your height and weight, but other factors such as your age, ethnicity, and activity level should be taken into account to improve accuracy.
Like all screening tools, BMI does have limitations, particularly since it’s unable to distinguish muscle from fat, and therefore might not paint an accurate picture of health for muscular individuals.
However, for most adults, BMI is a good starting point for assessing how our health might be impacted by our weight.
If your BMI is:
- Below 18.5 - you are considered underweight
- 18.5 to 24.9 - you are in the ‘healthy weight’ range
- 25 to 29 - you’re considered overweight
- 30-30.9 - you are in the ‘obese’ range
- 40 or above - you’re considered ‘severely obese’
So, why does BMI matter? And what does it mean for our health?
There are numerous significant health risks associated with high BMI. Research shows that obesity can shorten life expectancy by as much as 10 years, depending on the severity.
A higher BMI also increases the likelihood of developing serious health conditions, such as:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Coronary heart disease
- Certain cancers
- Stroke
Obesity is also linked with poor mental health, such as low self-esteem and depression.
The risk of developing these conditions - or having other weight-related health issues - increases the higher your BMI is. Being slightly overweight, therefore, might not present as much risk or shorten your life expectancy as much as living with obesity or having a BMI in the severely obese category will.
What Roles Does BMI Play in Adoption?
All children in care have experienced disruption and loss, and need stability to help them overcome the difficulties they have experienced in their early lives. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so important for adoption agencies to have a full, clear picture of an adopter’s current and future health.
Since we already know that having a higher BMI is associated with greater health risks, it makes sense that adoption agencies want to be sure that an applicant is taking steps to minimise the risks of carrying excess weight when getting ready to adopt. This might be through demonstrating that they’re making healthier choices around food, or increasing their activity levels in an effort to lower their BMI and improve or maintain their health.
Of course, there are never any guarantees when it comes to ill health, and even the fittest and seemingly healthiest of people can, at any moment, experience sudden ill health or receive a life-changing diagnosis, but adoption agencies need to feel confident that they can minimise the risk and therefore any potential disruption to an adopted child.
Another reason why adoption agencies need to consider BMI as part of your adoption medical assessment is to ensure that you’re able to meet the daily demands of parenting. Looking after children - especially young children - can be physically demanding. From kicking a football about in the park and pushing them on the swings to taking them to their first swimming lessons or carrying them up the stairs to bed, adoption agencies need to be sure that your BMI won’t hold you back or prevent you from meeting your child’s needs.
They also want to know that you’ll be setting a positive example to the child/ren in your care, and that you can be a healthy role model.
Adoption agencies also carry a duty of care towards applicants as well as to the children they’re trying to find homes for. They need to feel assured that adopting won’t place you, as an adopter, at risk or negatively impact your own health.
Can I Adopt If I’m Overweight?
It’s important to understand that being overweight won’t necessarily preclude you from adopting. There is no ‘one size fits all’ rule around BMI and adoption.
However, that said, BMI is one of several measures of health that will be recorded during your adoption medical. As such, your BMI will be considered as part of a wider profile of your health and lifestyle when adoption agencies are making a decision about your suitability to adopt.
What Are the Criteria For Adopting When Overweight or Obese?
Different adoption agencies use different criteria when looking at BMI as part of the assessment process. Some agencies will broach the issue early on in the assessment process, and if a prospective adopter has a significantly high BMI - for example, above 40, they may be asked to make attempts to reduce their BMI before moving forward with their application.
In other cases, it might be more appropriate for adopters to work on improving their health and reducing their BMI throughout the adoption assessment process in order to demonstrate their commitment to adoption when they go to panel.
There are no hard and fast rules around adopting when overweight or obese, but adoption agencies will take a more rigorous approach when assessing prospective adopters who have a BMI in the ‘severely obese’ range - i.e. above 40, as this is the BMI category associated with the greatest health risks and lowered life expectancy.
Orr Medical - Experts in Adoption Medical Assessments
At Orr Medical, we’ve been undertaking adoption medical assessments for over 15 years, and we pride ourselves on the unrivalled support we offer to both adoption agencies and prospective adopters.
When compiling adoption medical reports, we provide a comprehensive overview of an applicant’s health, taking all factors into account, and we’re more than happy to offer advice on lifestyle changes and measures to reduce future health risks.
We believe that adoption medicals are a fantastic opportunity for those considering adoption to get a clear picture of their current health, and we see time and again that medical reports can prompt real change and improve health and wellbeing.
We work with our clients and applicants to achieve our common goal of finding the right families for children waiting for adoption in the UK.
To find out more about our services, or to discuss how we can help you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or call us on 01772 915861. We look forward to hearing from you.