Moderate drinking during pregnancy can damage a child’s IQ – depending on their genetic make-up, British researchers said today.
Researchers said their analysis might be the most accurate assessment to date of this controversial issue.
Conflicting evidence about the effects of alcohol has made many public health experts reluctant to ban it altogether in pregnancy.
The latest study involved an analysis of the genes responsible for metabolising alcohol in the body.
Researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Bristol found four variants that were linked to children with reduce IQs at the age of eight. But the reductions in IQ were only found in children of women who were moderate drinkers.
They did not apply to children of women who abstained during pregnancy.
Researchers studied more than 4,000 children for the research, published in PLoS One.
Researcher Dr Ron Gray, from the University of Oxford, said: "This is a complex study but the message is simple: even moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can have an effect on future child intelligence. So women have good reason to choose to avoid alcohol when pregnant."
Fellow researcher Dr Sarah Lewis said: "Our results suggest that even at levels of alcohol consumption which are normally considered to be harmless, we can detect differences in childhood IQ, which are dependent on the ability of the foetus to clear this alcohol.
"This is evidence that even at these moderate levels, alcohol is influencing foetal brain development."
The UK Royal College of Midwives welcomed the findings.
Janet Fyle, of the college, said: "This adds weight to the RCM’s advice that women should avoid alcohol when they are pregnant or planning a pregnancy."
Lewis, S et al. Fetal alcohol exposure and IQ at age 8: evidence from a population based birth-cohort study. PLOS ONE November 15 2012
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