In a study assessing behavioral problems and children it was found that alcohol intake as low as one drink per week increased the incidence of behavioral problems in childhood. There was a dose response relationship, so that even 1.5 drinks a day was associated with more behavioral problems in the six and seven year old children than children of mothers having just one drink per week.
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Prenatal Exposure to One Maternal Drink per Week Is Associated with Behavioral Problems in Childhood: the Basis for the Recommendation of No Drinking during Pregnancy
Low prenatal alcohol exposure was classified as an average of 0.08 oz absolute alcohol per day (or ~ 1 drink per week) and moderate/heavy exposure as 0.79 oz absolute alcohol per day (or ~ 1.5 drinks per day) throughout pregnancy. Asterisk indicated significant difference p < .005 from the other two conditions. Aggression showed a statistically significant increase in response to higher prenatal doses, although the calculated odds ratio of aggression was not significant for dichotomous alcohol exposure. The odds ratio of delinquent behavior for any prenatal alcohol exposure vs. no prenatal alcohol exposure was statistically significant. The sample consisted of 501 black women attending an urban university-based maternal clinic in Detroit starting in 1986 and their children. Behavioral problems at age 6 – 7 were scored by maternal response to CBCL questionnaire. (Constructed from data in Sood, B. et al. Pediatrics, 108: E34, 2001) ©2008 NBEP
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A major problem is when women drink and they do not know they are pregnant. There is clear evidence that once women realize they are pregnant alcohol drinking rates, including binge drinking, markedly decrease . This emphasizes the point that there needs to be effective education of women in the childbearing years about the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, and the importance of not exposing the unborn child to any alcohol
Alcohol Use Tends to Decline Once Women Recognize They Are Pregnant
Median time to become aware of pregnancy was reported as 31 days (for both drinkers and non-drinkers). Highest alcohol consumption during first month of pregnancy, probably before pregnancy is confirmed. Data were collected by computer-assisted telephone interviews with 4,088 randomly selected mothers that were part of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study in 8 states and had expected due dates between 1997 – 2002. (Constructed from data in Ethen, M.K. et al. J Matern Child Health Epub, 2008) ©2008 NBEP
