Far More U.S. Children than Previously Thought May Have Fetal Alcohol Disorders
“But the major limitations in the study design render the results, for the most part, uninterpretable.”
The authors of the study, which was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, acknowledged the study’s limitations and tried to partly compensate by providing a conservative estimate (of 1.1 percent to 5 percent)
that is likely low and another estimate (of 3.1 percent to 9.9 percent) that is likely high.
“This is an equally common, or more common, disorder and one that’s completely preventable and one
that we are missing,” said Christina Chambers, one of the study authors and a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego.
Of 2,962 children evaluated, the researchers identified 222 with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, Dr.
All but two of them had not been previously diagnosed, although the authors said many
parents had been aware their children had learning and behavioral difficulties.
“When you identify a kid with FASD, you’ve just identified a mom who drank during pregnancy
and harmed her child,” said Susan Astley, director of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Diagnostic and Prevention Network at the University of Washington, who was not involved in the study.
We can provide better services for those kids, and we can do a better job of preventing the disorders to begin with.”
The range of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (also called FASDs) can cause cognitive, behavioral and physical difficulties.
“It’s kind of like the hidden problem,” said Dr. Howard Taras, a study author
and professor at the University of California, San Diego, who is the physician for the San Diego Unified School District, which participated in the study.
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