Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Implications for Health Education

Abstract

Even though it has been known since Biblical times that alcohol ingestion during pregnancy was harmful to the developing fetus, it was not until the mid-1970s that fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) was described accurately in the medical literature. Since that time, a significant amount of biomedical research has been conducted in order to more clearly define the causal mechanism involved in FAS and to more fully document the effects of alcohol on the fetus. At this point the most critical research and application needs lie in the area of primary prevention. After reviewing the recent literature with regard to the magnitude of the FAS problem and the reported cause and effect relationships, this article attempts to outline a program of primary prevention for FAS. Implications for health educators in a variety of settings are discussed.