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kwashiorkor

A nutritional deficiency illness in children who are not getting enough protein. This results in anaemia, poor growth, weakness, and oedema (which is particularly characterised by a pronounced pot belly). The word is derived from the Ghanian term meaning the sickness the baby gets when the new baby comes. In famine-stricken regions, children typically develop kwashiorkor right after they are weaned, this is because they no longer get their source of protein, mothers milk.