**Core Concept**
Meralgia paresthetica is a condition characterized by numbness, tingling, and burning pain in the outer aspect of the thigh, resulting from compression or injury of a specific nerve. This condition is often associated with tight clothing, obesity, or direct compression from a belt.

**Why the Correct Answer is Right**
The correct answer is the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN), which is responsible for supplying sensory innervation to the skin of the lateral thigh. Compression or injury to this nerve leads to the characteristic symptoms of meralgia paresthetica. The LFCN emerges from the lateral border of the psoas major muscle and runs laterally to supply the skin of the thigh.

**Why Each Wrong Option is Incorrect**
**Option A:** The femoral nerve is responsible for motor innervation to the quadriceps muscle and sensory innervation to the medial thigh, but it is not involved in meralgia paresthetica.
**Option B:** The sciatic nerve is a major nerve that supplies the lower extremity, but it is not responsible for the symptoms of meralgia paresthetica.
**Option C:** The obturator nerve supplies the adductor muscles and has a limited sensory distribution, but it is not involved in meralgia paresthetica.

**Clinical Pearl / High-Yield Fact**
Meralgia paresthetica can be diagnosed clinically by a characteristic history of numbness and tingling in the lateral thigh, and can be treated with decompression of the LFCN or removal of the compressive agent.

**Correct Answer: C. Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve.**