Estimation of caloric deficit in a fatal case of starvation resulting from child neglect.
We report the case of a 3-year-20-day-old girl who died of starvation as a result of severe neglect. Her body weight had been 12 kg 70 days before her death, but was only 5 kg at the time of autopsy. From information supplied by her parents to police, we calculated her daily caloric intake and estimated the factors for physical activity. The daily recommended dietary allowance for the victim was calculated from 700 kcal/ day x the appropriate factor for physical activity. In the absence of enough food, body fat (7.2 kcal/g body fat) and protein (4 kcal/g protein) would have been used to compensate until death. The calculated body weight at the time of death was around 5 kg. The statements of the parents therefore appear to be true.
Department of Forensic Medical Science, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kawasumi 1, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan. nagaom@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
Masataka
M
Nagao
Yoshitaka
Y
Maeno
Hiroyoshi
H
Koyama
Yoshimi
Y
Seko-Nakamura
Jun
J
Monma-Ohtaki
Mineo
M
Iwasa
Li Xian
LX
Zhe
Noriko
N
Kawashima
Teruhiko
T
Yano
D001835:Body Weight; D002649:Child Abuse; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002149:Energy Intake; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D009929:Organ Size; D013217:Starvation / Q000473:pathology*