Question

1. Consider the thrifty phenotype hypothesis of health disparities.

a. Briefly explain what this theory suggests and some of the evidence supporting this theory.

Answer 1

The thrifty phenotype hypothesis says that reduced fetal growth is strongly associated with a number of chronic conditions later in life. This increased susceptibility results from adaptations made by the fetus in an environment limited in its supply of nutrients. The thrifty phenotype is a component of the fetal origins hypothesis. These chronic conditions include coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and hypertension.

The relationship between nutrition in early life and adult outcome has been recognized for several decades. In 1960, Widdowson and McCance demonstrated permanent effects of early nutrition on adult size in the rat, while Davison & Dobbing (1968) formulated a ‘‘critical period hypothesis’’to account for the irreversible effects of early nutrition on brain development. More recently, the ‘‘early origins’’work of Barker and colleagues (Barker, 1992, 1998b), following previous work by Forsdahl and Corresponding author.