Why do stomachs swell when you have malnutrition?

Answer 1

In the later stages of malnourishment, the belly swells due to ascites. A starving person's blood protein levels are so low from the malnutrition the osmotic pressure pushes the fluid out of the vascular system into the intraperitoneal cavity . In other words, hypoalbuminemia and reduced plasma oncotic pressure favor the extravasation of fluid from the plasma to the peritoneal cavity. Sometimes they have cirrosis of the liver which also induces swelling.