Alcohol Use During Pregnancy May Lead To Changes In Child’s Face: Study

London: Multiple researches in the past have shown that alcohol consumption can have a detrimental effect on the human body in some way or the other.

According to CDC, side effects of excessive use of alcohol include development of chronic diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease and digestive problems.

A recent research has found that even a small amount of alcohol during pregnancy can result in permanent changes in a child’s facial features and, possibly, their cognitive abilities too.

According to Science Alert, Dutch researchers used 3D imagery and a deep-learning algorithm to examine 200 facial characteristics of 5,600 school-going youngsters.

The results highlighted differences between children of mothers who consumed alcohol during pregnancy and those whose mothers did not.

The study, published in Oxford Academic Journal, found that consuming just 12 gm of alcohol per week, or one standard drink, was associated with long-term changes in the child’s face.

The results of the research suggested that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption up to three months before and during pregnancy is associated with facial appearance of children.

“The association with the facial morphology of the offspring was attenuated with increasing age. Our results imply that facial morphology, as quantified by the approach we proposed here, can be used as a biomarker in further investigations,” the researchers wrote.

“Our study suggests that women who are pregnant or want to become pregnant soon should quit drinking several months before conception and completely during pregnancy to avoid adverse health outcomes in the offspring,” they further observed.