Which type of malnutrition is characterized by hypoglycemia, ketosis, and lipolysis?

• A. Protein-energy wasting
• B. Malabsorption-related malnutrition
• C. Starvation-related malnutrition
• D. Stress-related malnutrition

Answer: (C)

This question hinges on the metabolic pattern seen with prolonged energy deprivation. When intake is severely and chronically insufficient, the body first exhausts its glycogen stores, and glucose becomes scarce for the brain and other tissues. That leads to hypoglycemia. To spare glucose for essential organs, the body ramps up fat breakdown (lipolysis) to provide fatty acids for energy, and the liver converts some of those fatty acids into ketone bodies, causing ketosis. In starvation-related malnutrition, these shifts—hypoglycemia, increased lipolysis, and ketone production—are classic features as the body relies on fat stores for fuel in the absence of adequate intake. Other forms of malnutrition involve different driving factors (inflammation, malabsorption, or chronic illness) and don’t produce this same direct pattern as prominently.