The girl is now in the care of an aunt and is doing well, but has continuing developmental problems, the judge said.
Crown prosecutor Steve Manning described her case as one of "high-end child abuse".
He said the "nub of the issue" was why the mother treated her daughter as she did while remaining a good mother to other children.
Judge Cooper said those involved in the case had been "at a loss to understand" this, as the other children were perfectly well looked after.
However, he said that child had been born prematurely and the mother might have resented the difficulties this caused. She also perceived the child as "needy" after the attentive care of nurses during the first four months of her life.
The charges, which covered the mother's continuing behaviour towards the child over two periods between 2016 and 2020, and during 2021, stated that the woman withheld food and nutrition from her daughter, exposing her to the likelihood of starvation and "failure to thrive".
Last year, the girl was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with chronic malnutrition, a Crown summary of facts said.
It said that the woman regularly fed her only once a day, and treated her differently to her siblings. The girl was not allowed to eat with other family members, and often had to wait until they had finished before being offered the leftovers.
"The defendant admitted to knowing that the victim was regularly hungry and often asking for more food," the summary said.
The mother also stopped relatives and childcare centre workers feeding the hungry girl, telling them her daughter had allergies or bowel problems.
At the age of 6, she was very thin and at 94cm the height of a normal 3-year-old.
"Her short stature was diagnosed as a result of psychosocial dwarfism," the summary of facts said. "This is a syndrome caused by maternal emotional deprivation, stress and neglect."
It said that doctors had said that doctors reported she may never now reach her "normative" height.
The girl lived for several months with her grandmother, who reported that she had a huge appetite and did not know when to stop eating.
In her grandmother's care, the girl's weight increased to 18.5kg. She returned to her mother's care just before her fifth birthday and within weeks, her weight had dropped back to 15kg.
An aunt offered to take care of the child but the mother refused. A cousin offered to help, but the mother told her the girl was "just an attention-seeker".
The summary also said that at times the girl was kept in a cold room with wet hair and no blankets, was forced to sleep in a blow-up pool, and was not enrolled in school so that questions would not be asked about the lack of food she was getting.
Judge Cooper said the woman had a difficult and at times dysfunctional upbringing. She was disconnected from her Māori culture, but it was difficult to see how that was linked to her offending, particularly as she looked after the other children well.
Post-natal depression was a possibility but was not observed when she attended the girl in hospital, as would have been expected.
"You became very resentful at the extra care and attention [the girl received] and that became more entrenched as time progressed," the judge said.
Judge Cooper ordered suppression of the woman's name and all details which would identify her.
He said publishing the woman's name would also identify the children and cause them extreme hardship.
The charges carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
