Physical Development of Young Children Born by Alcohol Drinking Mothers

The article deals with studying physical development (body weight, height, head circumference) in 85 children born by mothers drinking alcohol at birth and up to the age of 24 months. All children were divided into groups depending on the phenotype of prenatal alcohol activity: alcohol-related birth defects; fetal alcohol syndrome; partial fetal alcohol syndrome. Gestational age at birth was distributed as follows: over the full 37 weeks - 38 (44.7%); 34-37 weeks - 24 (28.2%); 32- <34 weeks - 10 (11.7%); 28- <32 weeks - 9 (10.5%); 22- <28 weeks - 4 (4.7%) children. Distribution of premature birth by observation groups was: I group - 18 (75.0%); Group II - 17 (60.75%); the third group - 12 (36.4%) (pI, ІІ = 0.4218; рІ, ІІІ = 0.0108; pІІ, ІІІ = 0.0704). Thus, most often prematurely born children had alcohol-related birth defects. The first step in the analysis of the prenatal effect of alcohol on the fetus was the determination of physical development at birth of children, depending on its phenotypic manifestations. In the groups of children at birth, the most frequent delay in intrauterine development occurred in body weight. It should be noted that the lowest incidence of intrauterine weight and body length was observed in children with Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. In children with Alcohol-related birth defects (66.6%) and Alcoholic Fetal Syndrome (71.4%), the frequency of head circumference was higher than that of children with Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The frequency of delay in body weight, body length and head circumference did not differ between children with Alcoholic Fetal Syndrome and children with Alcohol-related birth defects at birth. It was also determined that in newborns, the prevalence of alcohol in the prenatal period is the most frequent delay in body weight, especially in children with Alcohol-related birth defects and fetal alcohol syndrome. Delay of body length at birth was not observed in children with partial fetal alcohol syndrome. The cephalic index depends on the gestational age of the child. During the early childhood, a third of children who had a significant delay in body weight, height and head circumference at birth, restore them. We can draw the following conclusions. Newborns with prenatal alcohol are the most frequently observed body mass impairment, especially in children with congenital defects associated with alcohol (66.6%) and fetal alcohol syndrome (71.4%) compared with growth retardation and head circumference. In children with partial fetal alcohol syndrome at birth, delayed body length was not observed. The index of maturation of the brain, namely the index of cephalitis, had variability in children with partial fetal alcohol syndrome and depends on the gestational age of the child. During the early childhood, about a third of children who had a significant delay in body weight, height and head circumference restored them. Prospects for further research are to study the development of young children born by mothers drinking alcohol: cognitive, language and understanding, motor, socio-emotional, adaptive.