When the victim was 2 years and 8 months old, her mother took her to the hospital, where her body weight was measured at 9 kg; the pediatrician diagnosed malnourishment and pressed the mother to have the child admitted to the hospital for treatment, but she refused. After the child's death at 3 years and 20 days old, the parents confessed that they kept the victim in a small room for about 50 days prior to her death and then in a packing case. The amount of food served to her decreased over time. One winter day the parents left the house with their son and left the victim alone in the packing case. They returned that night to find the child dead in the packing case. The child's body weight had been 12 kg 70 days before her death, but at the time of autopsy she weighed only 5 kg. From information supplied by the parents to the police, forensic investigators calculated the child's daily caloric intake and estimated factors for her physical activity. The daily recommended dietary allowance for the child was calculated from 700 kcal/day x the appropriate factor for physical activity. In the absence of sufficient food, body fat (7.2 kcal/g body fat) and protein (4 kcal/g protein) would have been used to compensate for lack of food nutrients until death. Based on these calculations, the parents' statements about the daily food intake of the child were apparently true. 5 figures, 1 table, and 11 references