Prenatal alcohol exposure, birthweight, and measures of child size from birth to age 14 years.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on offspring's weight, height, and head circumference from birth through 14 years of age.

METHODS

This longitudinal prospective study examined a cohort of approximately 500 offspring (oversampled for heavier drinkers and stratified for smoking from a population of 1529 women in prenatal care at the 5th gestational month) at birth; 8 and 18 months; and 4, 7, and 14 years of age. Covariates were examined by means of multiple regression. Birth size measures were also examined as predictors of 7-year neurodevelopmental outcomes.

RESULTS

Effects of alcohol were observed on weight, length, and head circumference at birth; these effects were not altered by adjustment for covariates including smoking. However, the birthweight effect is clearly transient: although alcohol effects remained observable at 8 months, they were not measurable thereafter through age 14 years.

CONCLUSIONS

In this population-based sample, neither birthweight nor any later size measure was as useful an indicator of the enduring effects of prenatal alcohol exposure as were certain neurodevelopmental outcomes.