PRESS RELEASE: One glass of alcohol in pregnancy is OK, right?
Embargoed until 12.01 am Sydney (AEST) Monday 21 October 2019
Melbourne, Victoria – 20 October 2019 – World-leading scientists will showcase research showing that even one standard alcoholic drink per week in the year prior to or during pregnancy can have long-term effects on children’s physical and mental health.
While heavy drinking is known to be harmful to unborn babies, many people still believe that the occasional glass of alcohol in pregnancy is harmless. Latest research confirms this isn’t true.
In a special session during the 11th World Congress on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease being held in Melbourne, scientists and public health experts from Australia, UK, Singapore and Canada will present research showing that even an occasional drink when trying to get pregnant or during pregnancy can affect child health.
Dr Suresh Anand Sadananthan, from Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences will present findings from an international collaboration assessing the relationship between mothers drinking in the 1 year before recognising they were pregnant, and blood pressure in their 6-year-old children.
They analysed 694 mother-child pairs who were part of the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study.
They found that systolic blood pressure was around 4mmHg higher in children whose mothers drank 1 or more standard alcoholic drinks per week compared to women who did not drink.
Importantly, they corrected their analysis for other factors known to influence child health, including ethnicity, cigarette smoke exposure, household income and mother’s education levels.
“High childhood blood pressure has been linked to increased risk of adult hypertension, cardiovascular and kidney disease,” explains Professor Mary Wlodek of the University of Melbourne, a collaborator on the GUSTO study. “Avoiding alcohol while trying to get pregnant and during pregnancy is the safest option for you and the long-term health of your child.”
Professor Karen Moritz, a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Child Health Research Centre at the University of Queensland, will also present her research in this session.
“Many studies are now looking at the effects of more than one alcoholic drink a week in pregnancy, which many Australian women are drinking,” explains Professor Moritz. “These studies are continually showing there is no safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy.”
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The biennial World Congress of the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease is being held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 20th-23rd October 2019. Approximately 1,000 delegates from around the world will attend the Congress.
The International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease is a not for profit, international research society comprising scientists, doctors, health workers and public health experts, dedicated to studying how a healthy start to life can reduce the risk of developing many diseases, now and in the future. Members of the society work to improve the life-long health of every mother, father, and child, and create societies that provide healthy, safe and supportive environments.
The special session entitled Long-Term Implications of Perinatal Alcohol Exposure, will be presented on Monday October 21, 10:40 am -12:20 pm, and highlight findings from British and Singapore longitudinal studies of pregnant women and their children, and animal studies exploring heart, kidney and metabolic health effects of alcohol exposure.
The Australian National Health and Medical Research Foundation (NHMRC) advises against drinking alcohol in pregnancy.
Media contacts
Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Australia and New Zealand
Associate Professor Nicolette Hodyl (Vice President) 0477 668 355 [email protected]
Dr Hayley Dickinson (Secretary) 0413 246 120 [email protected]
