Question

Which one of the following diseases is NOT developed by intrauterine growth retarded full term Low Birth Weight infants in later life?

• A. Coronary heart disease
• B. Hypertension
• C. Diabetes
• D. Malabsorption syndrome

Hint:

Three options belong to the metabolic syndrome cluster linked with fetal programming, one is a gut absorption problem with no such link.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

This question is built on the fetal origins of adult disease idea, also called the Barker hypothesis, which says that a baby who grows poorly in the womb but is still born at full term carries a higher risk of certain adult diseases.

1. Coronary heart disease: Long-term studies of such low birth weight babies show a raised risk of this in adulthood, so it fits the pattern linked to poor fetal growth.
2. Hypertension: This is another condition repeatedly linked to poor intrauterine growth followed by normal or catch up growth after birth, and it fits the pattern too.
3. Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes in adult life is one of the most consistently reported outcomes in this group of infants, so it also belongs to the pattern.
4. Malabsorption syndrome: This condition comes from a gut that cannot absorb nutrients well, usually due to something like celiac disease, and it has no established connection to the fetal growth restriction pathway that explains the other three diseases.

Since coronary heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes together form the well documented metabolic syndrome outcome of poor fetal growth, malabsorption syndrome stands apart as the one without this link.

Let's summarize:

• Poor intrauterine growth in a full term low birth weight infant programs the body toward metabolic syndrome in adulthood.
• Malabsorption syndrome is a separate gut disorder with no known tie to this fetal programming effect.

So the answer is malabsorption syndrome.