Contrary to this group, those who were in the third trimester during the siege, who presumably had been well nourished up until the last few months of gestation, were born small. But, these small babies stayed small their entire lives, and did not develop higher rates of obesity or disease. Surprisingly, effects continued to be seen in the offspring of the individuals who were fetuses at the time of the famine. During Ramadan (of the lunar cycle) many Muslims around the world participate in a fast during the daylight hours of the lunar month. This fasting usually entails abstaining from food or drink for the daylight hours of the month. There are groups that are automatically exempt from having to participate such as the young, sick and old but the list of exemption does not officially include pregnant women (though they are most often allowed exemption). The majority of pregnant women however, choose to participate despite the hardship due to cultural and personal pressure. In several recent studies on the effects of fasting during Ramadan and Fetal Origins Hypothesis they have found many negative outcomes on children who were in utero during the fast. These outcomes were as numerous as a change in birth weight to the long term health of the affected. The studies were conducted primarily in Uganda and Iraq but had some smaller sections in Michigan and other places for control groups or specific studies. The effects on birth weight are negatively correlated with Ramadan fasting. Arab Muslim pregnancies that overlap with the Ramadan fast experienced a lower birth weight of 18 grams per child. The effect was slightly larger at a lower birth weight of 20-25 grams if Ramadan fell somewhere in the first or second trimester of the pregnancy. In utero exposure to Ramadan fasting has a negative effect on male birth rate causing a skewed sex ratio for total births. When exposure to the Ramadan fast takes place a month after conception it is correlated with a 13% decline in total births. The effects on exposed males and females is drastically different where the male birth rate drops by 26% the female birth rate only drops by 2.5% leading to the assumption that “male vulnerability” may be to blame. In a study conducted in Uganda and Iraq on the levels of disability among those exposed to the fast while in utero they concluded that disability rates were much higher for those exposed when controlling for outside factors. Though the measure for disability differs by country the effect is still noticeable. For those born 9 months after Ramadan the likelihood of disability is higher than the surrounding population. The mean rate of disability in Uganda is 3.8% for the country but for those exposed the number is drastically higher at 22% mean disability rate.