dietary deficiency

"Dietary deficiency or nutritional stress" are blamed in the paper, though in an interview for BBC Radio 4's Inside Science programme, she accepted "we don't know if Little Foot was sick at some time, or if she couldn't find enough food".

Another possible explanation, a National Audubon Society expert told the organization’s blog, is a dietary deficiency.

“We are concerned about dietary deficiency, lack of dairy, fish and meat, and particularly lack of sunlight for children who spend all their time indoors watching TV or playing video games,” he said.

But sometimes bald spots or thin patches are signs of a medical condition or dietary deficiency.

Photograph: Archaeology Warwickshire/Warwickshire county council “The remains are currently being processed … and, once cleaned, will be aged and sexed and examined for signs of injury, disease, dietary deficiency and other pathologies,” he said.