Pregnant drinking common in Ireland, England, Australasia
Print Edition
Twenty to 80 percent of women questioned in England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand drank alcohol while pregnant, researchers said on Tuesday, flagging a 鈥渟ignificant public health concern.鈥
Though most had 鈥渓ow levels鈥 of intake, the data suggested that alcohol use in pregnancy was prevalent and socially pervasive, said a study in the journal BMJ Open.
鈥淣ew policy and interventions are required to reduce alcohol prevalence both prior to and during pregnancy,鈥 the authors wrote.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that alcohol use during pregnancy can damage the unborn child for life 颅鈥 though there is no certainty about the dose at which it becomes dangerous. The worst effects are seen with foetal alcohol syndrome 颅鈥 whose symptoms can include facial abnormalities, and physical and intellectual disabilities.
Drinking while pregnant can also lead to miscarriages, and premature or still births, says the WHO website, and pregnant women are generally advised not to drink.
The team looked at statistics from:
The Growing up in Ireland (GUI) database of surveys of nearly 11,000 women who gave birth in 2008-09.
The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), also in Ireland, with 718 respondents who gave birth in 2012.
The Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study based on interviews with 5,573 women between 2004-11 from Auckland in New Zealand, Adelaide in Australia, Cork in Ireland, and Manchester, Leeds and London in England.
SCOPE had the highest overall reported prevalence, at 82 percent, of drinking during pregnancy, the team said, and GUI the lowest at 20 percent. The number for PRAMS was 46 percent.
SCOPE also had the highest prevalence, 45 percent, of binge drinking while pregnant 颅鈥 measured as six or more units of alcohol per sitting.
One unit is about a glass of wine, a shot of spirits, or half a pint of lager.
Smokers were 17-50 percent more likely to drink while pregnant, the numbers showed. There was no comparison with other parts of the world.
鈥淭he amount of alcohol drunk varied across the three studies. Between 15 percent and 70 percent of the women said that they had drunk one to two units a week during the first three months (trimester) of their pregnancy,鈥 the researchers said. The number of units dropped substantially in all countries from the first to the second trimester, but the team said this was little comfort.
鈥淪ince most women who consume alcohol do so at lower levels where the offspring growth and development effects are less well understood, the widespread consumption of even low levels of alcohol during pregnancy is a significant public health concern.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
