Consuming alcohol during pregnancy has a negative impact on the child's physical and mental growth.
A study published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical &Experimental Research found high exposure to alcohol in the womb slowing down the growth of the child from birth to nine years.
Dr. R. Colin Carter and colleagues included 148 pregnant women in Cape Town, South Africa to examine the risks associated with heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Of the total participants, 85 were heavy drinkers -taking four or more drinks per day. The control group included 63 women, who abstained from drinking or consumed less than one drink daily.
Investigators recorded details about the women's smoking and drinking habit after conceiving the baby. Later they took details about the children's growth at different stages. At six and 12 months, length, weight and head circumference of babies were measured and noticed. Later the same procedure was followed when the child was five and nine years.
The results showed mother's heavy drinking decreasing the weight, height and head circumference of children.
"These effects may be detrimental to the children as growth deficits have been shown to be related to other health problems, such as lower IQ," Health Day quoted study corresponding author Dr. R. Colin Carter, an instructor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, as saying in news release.
According to a latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of 13 pregnant women still consume alcohol in US. The tendency was found more prevalent among older and educated women.
The negative impact of drinking during pregnancy is known from a long time. Medical experts normally recommend women to abstain from drinking alcohol during pregnancy as it can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome, birth defects, low birth weight and developmental disabilities.
But contradictory to the common belief, a study published in the BJOG journal June found no harm in consuming low to moderate levels of alcohol in the early stages of pregnancy. However, the Danish investigators who conducted the study warn against consuming alcohol higher than eight drinks per week damaging the intelligence levels or attention span of the child by the age of five.
