# Why are starving peoples stomaches bloated/distended? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-starving-peoples-stomaches-bloated-distended/591212 "2011-08-02T19:39:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-starving-peoples-stomaches-bloated-distended/591212/1 "2011-08-02T19:39:51Z")
In many pictures that I’ve seen of starving people, they have distended stomachs, almost like they have beer bellies. Why is that? It seems counter-intuitive that the less nutrition you get the bigger the grow. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-starving-peoples-stomaches-bloated-distended/591212/2 "2011-08-02T19:49:26Z")
It’s not \*all \*starving people, but people who have not enough calories, not enough protein and not enough of some micronutrients, especially ones that are called “antioxidants”, along with stress like an infection or eating mold toxins. We used to think it was from having enough calories but not enough protein, like kids fed carbohydrates but no milk or meat, but we’ve discovered it’s more complicated than that. The enlarged abdomen is because the liver is damaged and swollen. They also have edema, which is water retention in their feet and lower limbs, so their feet look puffy. The condition is called [kwashiorkor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwashiorkor). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-starving-peoples-stomaches-bloated-distended/591212/3 "2011-08-02T19:53:12Z")
It is called [Kwashiorkor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwashiorkor). ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-starving-peoples-stomaches-bloated-distended/591212/4 "2011-08-02T19:57:59Z")
Could it also be [Ascites?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascites) That can also be caused from liver damage. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-starving-peoples-stomaches-bloated-distended/591212/5 "2011-08-02T20:09:51Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Could it also be [Ascites?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascites) That can also be caused from liver damage. Conventional wisdom dating back to the '60s is that it’s rare to see ascites with kwashiorkor. When we do see them together, there’s fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver - and it’s technically the cirrhosis causing the ascites, not the kwashiorkor. Most of the time, though, kwashiorkor comes with an enlarged liver and resulting abdominal distention, with no ascites present. See: [http://tropej.oxfordjournals.org/content/14/1/3.extract](http://tropej.oxfordjournals.org/content/14/1/3.extract) However, that being said, a whole lot of sources do mention ascites and kwashiorkor in the same breath, so I’m not entirely sure. I think what we have is dueling hypotheses, and time and more research will tell us more.