Intra-uterine malnutrition and skeletal retardation

In the subgroup of small-for-dates, indicated as intra-uterine malnourished infants, we made an attempt to correlate the degree of starvation and the degree of skeletal retardation. In 31 wasted infants (including 4 post-mature children) and 20 not wasted infants, the ponderal index (100 X W/L3) was determined and deviation from 'normal' calculated. A highly significant correlation was found between the degree of malnutrition (deviation of the ponderal index from normal) and the degree of skeletal retardation (in weeks). The skeletal retardation seems a useful parameter to determine the minimal duration of insufficient energy supply to the fetus.