School of Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa.
Centre for Local Economic Development, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Mar 3;20(5):4492. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20054492.
Two towns in Renosterberg Local Municipality (RLM) in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, Petrusville and Philipstown, have high Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) prevalence rates. FASD is linked to poverty and imposes high national economic costs. Thus, it is critical to understand the local economic development (LED) strategies used to mitigate the high prevalence of FASD. Moreover, there is sparse literature examining adult communities where FASD children reside. Understanding these adult communities is important because FASD cannot exist without adult gestational exposure to alcohol consumption. Using a mixed-method approach, this study uses a six-phase analytic approach to investigate the drinking culture and drinking motives in RLM, applied to two cross-sectional in-depth community needs assessments, five in-depth interviews, and three focus groups. This study also evaluates how the RLM targets FASD, as well as binge and risky drinking, in its municipal economic strategy by analysing its Integrated Development Plan (IDP) with respect to an eight-stage policy development process. The results indicate that 57% of respondents expressed concern regarding the unhealthy drinking culture in RLM, 40% felt that the residents of RLM drank in response to unemployment-related hopelessness, and 52% attributed the drinking culture to a lack of hobbies and recreational opportunities. The results of an analysis of the RLM IDP through the lens of Ryder's eight-stage policy development process suggest that the decisive policy development process is not open to the public and that, furthermore, FASD is neglected. A dedicated alcohol consumption census-style study is recommended to broadly capture alcohol consumption in RLM, allowing researchers to identify the exact alcohol consumption patterns and priority areas for the IDP and public health policy. RLM should directly publicise its policy development process so that its IDP is inclusively formulated to address FASD, risky drinking, binge drinking, and gestational alcohol consumption.
南非北开普省雷斯特伯格地方市（RLM）的两个城镇，彼得斯维尔和菲利普斯敦，胎儿酒精谱系障碍（FASD）的发病率很高。FASD 与贫困有关，并给国家带来高昂的经济成本。因此，了解用于减轻 FASD 高发病率的当地经济发展（LED）策略至关重要。此外，很少有文献研究 FASD 儿童居住的成年社区。了解这些成年社区很重要，因为如果没有成年人在怀孕期间饮酒，FASD 就不会存在。本研究采用混合方法，使用六阶段分析方法调查 RLM 的饮酒文化和饮酒动机，应用于两项横断面深入社区需求评估、五次深入访谈和三次焦点小组。本研究还通过分析其综合发展计划（IDP）相对于八阶段政策制定过程，评估 RLM 如何在其市政经济战略中针对 FASD、 binge 和高危饮酒问题。结果表明，57%的受访者对 RLM 不健康的饮酒文化表示关注，40%的人认为 RLM 的居民饮酒是为了应对与失业相关的绝望，52%的人将饮酒文化归因于缺乏爱好和娱乐机会。通过 Ryder 的八阶段政策制定过程分析 RLM IDP 的结果表明，决定性的政策制定过程不向公众开放，此外，FASD 被忽视。建议进行一项专门的酒精消费普查式研究，以广泛捕捉 RLM 的酒精消费情况，使研究人员能够确定 IDP 和公共卫生政策的准确酒精消费模式和优先领域。RLM 应直接宣传其政策制定过程，以便其 IDP 能够包容地制定，以解决 FASD、高危饮酒、 binge 饮酒和妊娠期饮酒问题。
