Izgladnjivanje do smrti samo je iznimno uzrok smrti u razvijenim zemljama. Međutim, ova pojava može imati daleko veći značaj ako je sudskomedicinski gledano smrt posljedica namjernog uskraćivanja hrane. U takvim slučajevima zadatak specijalista sudske medicine ili patologa je razjasniti uzrok smrti i dati stručno mišljenje o stupnju i trajanju gladi. Za procjenu proteinsko-energijske pothranjenosti razvijeno je nekoliko klasifikacijskih sustava koji se također opisuju u članku. Mnogo je faktora vezanih uz dob koji mogu dovesti do gubitka apetita i smanjenja težine, te se u preglednom članku oni i razmatraju. Sudskomedicinski su posebno interesantni slučajevi izgladnjivanja u kojima su, u sklopu pojave zlostavljanja i zanemarivanja, pogođena djeca,. Upravo takve primjere iz literature i navodimo u radu, uz osvrt na osobe starije životne dobi. Ove su osobe, zbog nerazmjera u odnosu snaga, posebno ugrožena skupina, kod koje je također najčešći tip pothranjenosti proteinsko-energijska pothranjenost.; Starvation with a fatal outcome is just an exceptional cause of death in developed countries. However, this phenomenon may have far greater significance if a criminal case related-death is the consequence of deliberate denial of food. In such cases, the task of a specialist in the field of legal medicine or pathology is to clarify the cause of death and give a professional opinion on the degree and duration of violent starvation. For the evaluation of protein-energy malnutrition, several classification systems have been developed, which are also described in the article. There are many age-related factors that can lead to loss of appetite and weight loss, and they are being considered in this review article. Suddenly, specially interesting cases of starvation affect children, as a result of abuse and neglect. It is precisely these examples from the literature and we are cited in this paper, concerning older people. These people, due to the unbalanced relationship of strength, are particularly vulnerable to the group, which is also the most common type of malnutrition protein-energy malnutrition.