A new report states that around 119,000 children worldwide are born with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) each year. The syndrome is a group of conditions that include mental and physical developmental problems, poor growth both inside the womb and after birth, these problems can last through adulthood and are linked with drinking in pregnancy.
An average of 10 percent of women worldwide drink alcohol during pregnancy. In some countries, the rate is as high as 45 percent according to researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. According to research the five countries that have highest alcohol consumption during pregnancy are Russia, Denmark, Belarus, United Kingdom and Ireland. Europe had about 2.6 higher prevalence of the syndrome than the global average.
The regions with lowest levels of drinking during pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome are the South East Asia region and Eastern Mediterranean as these regions has high rates of alcohol abstinence. Dr. Svetlana Popova, a senior scientist at the center, estimates that about 1 in every 67 women who drinks alcohol during pregnancy will have a child with FAS.
It is estimated that 15 per 10,000 people have fetal alcohol syndrome worldwide. According to the study, they are uncertain as to the factors that makes a fetus susceptible to harm from alcohol. Abstinence during the whole course of the pregnancy is the safest course of action in order to prevent having a baby with FAS according to Dr. Popova in an article by Tucson.com.
The research looked into more than 3,500 maternal records from 1990 to 2011, the rate of fetal alcohol syndrome in Ireland was also examined. According to a global study, around 60 percent of births in Ireland have evidence that their mothers consumed alcohol during pregnancy. Drinking in pregnancy is prevalent in Ireland and Irish women are rated the biggest drinkers during pregnancy according to Independent.IE.
