Question:medium
Which parameter most conclusively rules out malnutrition?
Which parameter most conclusively rules out malnutrition?
Show Hint
When fat runs out, PEM eats into which tissue, so its preservation reassures you most?
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Edema
- Lean body mass
- Skinfold thickness
- Normal ECF volume
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Pick the marker that is hardest to fake. Oedema and a normal ECF volume are fluid-dependent: kwashiorkor produces oedema in a starving child, while a 'normal' ECF tells you about water balance, not nutrient stores, so neither convincingly excludes malnutrition. Skinfold thickness gauges only subcutaneous fat and can be distorted by oedema or be deceptively normal early on. Lean body mass, the muscle and organ tissue compartment, is the deeper reserve the body sacrifices in protein-energy malnutrition only after fat is exhausted. Hence intact lean body mass signals that nutritional reserves are genuinely preserved and is the parameter that most conclusively rules out malnutrition.
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