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Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and infant birth weight
1Division of Biometry and Epidemiology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, MD 20857.
Heavy maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been consistently linked to decreased infant birth weight but the effects of low and moderate levels of drinking on infant birth weight remain unclear. This study addresses the relationship of low to moderate alcohol consumption and birth weight in a nationally representative cohort sample (National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, n = 4409 births). Statistical methods that account for the complex sample design were used in the analysis. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to adjust the relationship between drinking and birth weight for relevant covariates. Results of this study revealed a nonstatistically significant trend in the direction of greater numbers of low-birth-weight babies born to mothers who drank more frequently during pregnancy. A significant interaction between drinking and smoking was found in which the negative effects on birth weight of smoking were less for those women who drank more heavily (P = 0.046).
Heavy maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been consistently linked to decreased infant birth weight but the effects of low and moderate levels of drinking on infant birth weight remain unclear. This study addresses the relationship of low to moderate alcohol consumption and birth weight in a nationally representative cohort sample (National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, n = 4409 births). Statistical methods that account for the complex sample design were used in the analysis. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to adjust the relationship between drinking and birth weight for relevant covariates. Results of this study revealed a nonstatistically significant trend in the direction of greater numbers of low-birth-weight babies born to mothers who drank more frequently during pregnancy. A significant interaction between drinking and smoking was found in which the negative effects on birth weight of smoking were less for those women who drank more heavily (P = 0.046).