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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome latest: calls for labelling;

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome latest: calls for labelling;


  • There are fresh calls for warning labels to be put on bottles of alcohol to spell out the dangers of drinking when pregnant. Any alcohol consumed during pregnancy goes straight to the baby, but doctors say many women are not aware of the dangers. The US, France and Finland already include health information on products. There is no safe limit for drinking during pregnancy and doctors say the only way to be sure your baby is not affected is to avoid alcohol completely.

Excessive drinking has been linked to a range of physical defects in babies called Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and a study has also found that light drinking can cause subtle signs of brain damage. Lord Mitchell is hoping to put the measures through Parliament as a Private Member's Bill. He said: "The Americans have been doing this for some time and now the French have adopted it. Other countries are looking at labelling very seriously and I think we really ought to be at the forefront of this". STV.TV


  • Thousands of children in Scotland may be suffering the damaging effects of alcohol exposure in the womb, but most are undiagnosed, experts have warned. More than 300 babies a year could be born with impairments caused by their mothers' drinking during pregnancy. However, difficulties in diagnosing the condition mean that only a handful of cases are formally recorded in Scotland each year.

Now a major survey of paediatricians in Scotland is to assess the extent of the problem and set down guidelines for diagnosis. Some estimates put the number of children affected in Scotland at more than 8,000, suffering problems such as learning disabilities and hyperactivity, as well as physical difficulties.

Dr Maggie Watts, chair of the Scottish Association of Alcohol Action Teams, will discuss the problem at a conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday, organised by the charity Children in Scotland. She said Scottish estimates for foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) - the most serious damage caused by alcohol - and foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) were based on studies in other countries. These suggest that around 37 FAS babies are born a year in Scotland and 340 with FASD. Scotsman


Contributor: Libby Ranzetta Alcohol Policy UK

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