Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Continues to Be A Major Public Health Concern
Originally published by Reuters Health, May 23, 2002
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — Many US children continue to be born with birth defects and developmental disabilities associated with maternal alcohol use during pregnancy, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in the May 24th issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
In the paper, Karen Hymbaugh, of the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, and colleagues summarize results of a data analysis of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Surveillance Network (FASSNet), a program designed to track the occurrence of fetal alcohol syndrome. "This is the first state-based program that allows us to consistently monitor fetal alcohol syndrome," she told Reuters Health.
They found that the rate of fetal alcohol syndrome in children born between 1995 and 1997 in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, and New York ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 per 1000 live births. Rates were highest among blacks and American Indian/Alaska Native populations. These rates are in line with past prevalence estimates.
Altogether, the team reviewed the records of 1489 children, of which 209 (14%) met criteria for confirmed or probable fetal alcohol syndrome. After excluding 24 children born outside the surveillance area, 142 (77%) of the 185 remaining children were confirmed to have fetal alcohol syndrome and 43 (23%) had probable fetal alcohol syndrome.
"Fetal alcohol syndrome continues to exist and it is a totally preventable birth defect," Ms. Hymbaugh told Reuters Health. "Healthcare providers should be as vigilant as possible in trying to identify children with fetal alcohol syndrome."
Ms. Hymbaugh added that her team "has other evidence that binge drinking and frequent drinking has not declined since 1995, so we are hoping that healthcare providers are talking to women who are thinking about becoming pregnant, or who are pregnant, about their drinking habits."
Reducing the occurrence of fetal alcohol syndrome is one of the national health objectives for 2010.
