Alcohol consumption during pregnancy

The Result of a Risky Consumption Trajectory

Bibliographic Data

ID5166835
AuthorsClaudia De Souza Lopes (0000-0002-0401-689X, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume39
Issue8
Pagese00129523-e00129523
Publication date2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCadernos de Saude Publica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0102-311X • E-ISSN: 1678-4464
PublisherFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/0102-311xen129523
PMID37556614
OpenAlexW4385629664
LanguageEN
References cited29

1 , published in this issue of CSP, addresses a public health problem in Brazil and worldwide: the high prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and its effect on the health of the mother and fetus.Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with many gestational outcomes, including stillbirth, miscarriage, preterm delivery, intrauterine growth retardation and low birth weight 2,3,4 , and a variety of lifelong conditions known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) 5,6 .One of the most disabling potential outcomes of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is the risk of developing fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), the most severe and visibly identifiable FASD, which causes permanent brain damage, congenital anomalies, and deficits in cognitive behavioral, emotional, and adaptive functioning 7 .To mitigate the problem, for more than a decade, guidelines from international organizations/institutions have recommended that women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant abstain from any alcohol consumption during this period 8,9 .Despite this, the prevalence of this consumption during pregnancy remains high worldwide.However, Brazil has a gap on this topic, with few studies and most of them conducted in specific populations.The article by Cabral et al. 1 fills this gap as the first nationally representative population study to evaluate the set of factors related to the Brazilian reality of inequalities in access to services and social vulnerability that contribute to the high prevalence of alcohol consumption among pregnant women.Among the factors associated with higher prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the presumptive diagnosis of misuse, young age at pregnancy stands out, especially among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years.This is one of the most important indicators of social vulnerability, causing psychosocial and economic harm in women's lives.Thus, understanding the role of early alcohol consumption in this scenario will allow the development of public policies aimed at greater surveillance of alcohol consumption in this age group and the screening of groups at higher risk for alcohol consumption during pregnancy.To what extent does the high prevalence of alcohol consumption among women in adolescence and early adulthood affect its persistence during pregnancy?To answer this question, we need to take a step back and consider trends in alcohol consumption among adolescents and young adults in recent decades

Alcohol · Alcohol consumption · Biology · Consumption (sociology) · Environmental health · Pregnancy · Sociology · Trajectory · Gestational Diabetes Research and Management · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects

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