Rates of binge drinking, and heavy alcohol consumption increase among pregnant women
Researchers found that the prevalence of binge drinking and heavy alcohol consumption is growing in pregnant women. Drinking, driving, and smoking during pregnancy are priority risks for children and their mothers.
“Recent data show a modest increase in alcohol use among pregnant women from 2011 to 2018, but no change in the number of pregnant women who binge drink between 2018 and 2020.” Jeffrey T. Howard, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of public health at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and colleagues wrote in JAMA Network Open. “However, little is known about how long-term trends in problematic alcohol use might differ between pregnant and nonpregnant women.”
Howard and colleagues assessed trends in pregnant and nonpregnant drinking as part of their cross-sectional study. Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System based on four or more drinks during a single occasion and eight or more drinks per week, they examined changes from 2011 to 2020 among 49,098 pregnant women and 1,243,402 nonpregnant women.
The average annual percent change for binge drinking and heavy alcohol consumption increased from 0.7% to 2.3%. The only significant increase in the average was for heavy alcohol consumption, which went from 6.6% to 7.5%.
However, binge drinking and heavy alcohol consumption have increased for pregnant women, with 8.9% of pregnant women binge drinking and 11.6% of pregnant women heavy drinking since 2011. Specifically, the prevalence of binge-drinking rose from 2.5% (95% CI: 1.6%-3.4%) to 6.1% (95% CI: 2.2%-10%) in 2010 through 2020, and at risk for heavy drinking went up from 0.7% (95% CI: 0.3%-1%) to 3.2% (95%CI: 0.6%-5.8%) between 2010 and 2020
The researchers found that pregnant women who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic reported worse behavioural risks, potentially because of changes in socioeconomic and psychosocial stressors exacerbated by the pandemic.
Source: https://www.healio.com/news/womens-health-ob-gyn/20220817/rates-of-binge-drinking-heavy-alcohol-consumption-increase-among-pregnant-women
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