Daily HealthBeat Tip - December 17, 2007

Women’s drinking; children’s problems

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

If a woman drinks when she’s pregnant, her child may suffer. A study in Archives of General Psychiatry focuses on how the child behaves.

Brian D’Onofrio of Indiana University looked at what women reported about their drinking, and whether their children had conduct problems from ages 4 to 11 – things like bullying, breaking things and being disobedient.

``The research strongly suggests that the women’s alcohol consumption when they were pregnant actually causes the children to have more conduct problems.’’  (8 seconds)

D’Onofrio says the effect of drinking on children’s behavior wasn’t huge, and there could have been other factors. But he says there’s no known safe level of alcohol, so women who are pregnant, or could be, should not drink.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May, 26 2008