In a study, heavy prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with growth restrictions that persisted to age 9, as well as a delay in weight gain during infancy.
Both issues were exacerbated by iron deficiency in infancy, reported researchers with Harvard Medical School.
"Our research adds to prior findings of fetal alcohol-related growth restriction in childhood by demonstrating that the effects of alcohol exposure on somatic growth are largely determined in utero," R. Colin Carter, MD, the study’s corresponding author and an instructor of pediatrics at Harvard, said in a news release. "In addition, this study is the first to examine the effects of PAE [prenatal alcohol exposure] on percent body fat."
The researchers recruited two groups of pregnant women at their initiation of prenatal care at an urban obstetrical clinic in Cape Town, South Africa. One group included 85 heavy-drinking women, defined as two or more drinks per day or four or more drinks per occasion. The other group included 63 abstaining and light-drinking women, defined as less than one drink per day and no binge drinking.
The women were interviewed during their pregnancies about alcohol, smoking, drug use, and demographics. Their children had their length/height, weight and head circumference measured at 6.5 and 12 months, and again at ages 5 and 9.
"We found that children born to women who drank heavily during pregnancy had reductions in weight, height and head circumference when compared with children without heavy PAE," Carter said. "This alcohol-related growth restriction was present in early infancy and persisted through to nine years of age.
"What is important is that these effects were exacerbated by iron deficiency in infancy. By contrast, iron deficiency at five years of age and food security did not impact the effects of alcohol on growth.
"Infants with heavy PAE also had a delay in weight gain at 12 months of age. In addition, the most alcohol-affected children, those with fetal alcohol syndrome and partial FAS, had leaner body composition when compared with children without these diagnoses."
The persistence of smaller weight, height and head circumference, an indicator of brain growth, suggest these effects may be permanent and potentially are markers of later cognitive development, Carter said. "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," he said.
Carter said he and his colleagues will continue to study the origins of the iron deficiency that they found.
The study appeared Aug. 15 on the website of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experiential Research. The study abstract is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2012.01810.x/abstract.
Both issues were exacerbated by iron deficiency in infancy, reported researchers with Harvard Medical School.
"Our research adds to prior findings of fetal alcohol-related growth restriction in childhood by demonstrating that the effects of alcohol exposure on somatic growth are largely determined in utero," R. Colin Carter, MD, the study’s corresponding author and an instructor of pediatrics at Harvard, said in a news release. "In addition, this study is the first to examine the effects of PAE [prenatal alcohol exposure] on percent body fat."
The researchers recruited two groups of pregnant women at their initiation of prenatal care at an urban obstetrical clinic in Cape Town, South Africa. One group included 85 heavy-drinking women, defined as two or more drinks per day or four or more drinks per occasion. The other group included 63 abstaining and light-drinking women, defined as less than one drink per day and no binge drinking.
The women were interviewed during their pregnancies about alcohol, smoking, drug use, and demographics. Their children had their length/height, weight and head circumference measured at 6.5 and 12 months, and again at ages 5 and 9.
"We found that children born to women who drank heavily during pregnancy had reductions in weight, height and head circumference when compared with children without heavy PAE," Carter said. "This alcohol-related growth restriction was present in early infancy and persisted through to nine years of age.
"What is important is that these effects were exacerbated by iron deficiency in infancy. By contrast, iron deficiency at five years of age and food security did not impact the effects of alcohol on growth.
"Infants with heavy PAE also had a delay in weight gain at 12 months of age. In addition, the most alcohol-affected children, those with fetal alcohol syndrome and partial FAS, had leaner body composition when compared with children without these diagnoses."
The persistence of smaller weight, height and head circumference, an indicator of brain growth, suggest these effects may be permanent and potentially are markers of later cognitive development, Carter said. "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," he said.
Carter said he and his colleagues will continue to study the origins of the iron deficiency that they found.
The study appeared Aug. 15 on the website of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experiential Research. The study abstract is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2012.01810.x/abstract.
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