Question:

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

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Three options belong to the metabolic syndrome cluster linked with fetal programming, one is a gut absorption problem with no such link.
Updated On: Jul 7, 2026
  • Coronary heart disease
  • Hypertension
  • Diabetes
  • Malabsorption syndrome
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Recall the idea behind this question.
When a baby is born at full term but with a low birth weight because growth slowed down inside the womb, its body is thought to adapt to a poor nutrient supply before birth. This early adaptation is believed to program the baby's metabolism in a way that causes problems much later in adult life. This idea is called the fetal origins of adult disease, or the Barker hypothesis.

Step 2: List the diseases this programming is linked to.
Studies following such infants into adulthood have consistently found a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary heart disease. These three conditions form a well known cluster, sometimes grouped together with obesity and abnormal blood fats as the metabolic syndrome.

Step 3: Check coronary heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes.
All three of these are part of the classic metabolic syndrome pattern that intrauterine growth retarded, full term low birth weight infants are known to develop more often in adult life. So these three options are all diseases that are seen more, not the exception.

Step 4: Check malabsorption syndrome.
Malabsorption syndrome is a disorder of the gut failing to absorb nutrients properly, usually from conditions like celiac disease or chronic pancreatic disease. It has no established link to the fetal programming pathway that drives the metabolic syndrome cluster, so it does not fit the pattern the other three options share.

Step 5: Final answer.
The disease that is NOT developed by intrauterine growth retarded full term low birth weight infants in later life is malabsorption syndrome. \[ \boxed{\text{Malabsorption syndrome}} \]
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