Does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development?
We posit that: (i) light alcohol consumption during pregnancy does not improve the cognitive development of human offspring and (ii) observational study outcomes indicating apparent protective effects arise from residual confounding due to socioeconomic status. Our hypotheses counter emerging hypoth...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36089 |
| _version_ | 1848754672659070976 |
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| author | Liang, Wenbin Chikritzhs, Tanya |
| author_facet | Liang, Wenbin Chikritzhs, Tanya |
| author_sort | Liang, Wenbin |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | We posit that: (i) light alcohol consumption during pregnancy does not improve the cognitive development of human offspring and (ii) observational study outcomes indicating apparent protective effects arise from residual confounding due to socioeconomic status. Our hypotheses counter emerging hypotheses apparent in the epidemiological literature that light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improves offspring’s cognitive development. Determining the plausibility of this proposition is important given its potential to influence women’s alcohol consumption behavior during pregnancy. However, given ethical concerns, it is unlikely that a randomized control trial will be conducted to test this hypothesis. The veracity of alcohol’s purported positive effect on cognitive development is therefore explored here by comparing research evidence on light alcohol consumption to the evidence for folate and DHA supplementation intake during pregnancy. An alternative approach for further testing this hypothesis in observational studies is also suggested. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:44:08Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-36089 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:44:08Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-360892017-09-13T15:18:09Z Does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development? Liang, Wenbin Chikritzhs, Tanya We posit that: (i) light alcohol consumption during pregnancy does not improve the cognitive development of human offspring and (ii) observational study outcomes indicating apparent protective effects arise from residual confounding due to socioeconomic status. Our hypotheses counter emerging hypotheses apparent in the epidemiological literature that light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improves offspring’s cognitive development. Determining the plausibility of this proposition is important given its potential to influence women’s alcohol consumption behavior during pregnancy. However, given ethical concerns, it is unlikely that a randomized control trial will be conducted to test this hypothesis. The veracity of alcohol’s purported positive effect on cognitive development is therefore explored here by comparing research evidence on light alcohol consumption to the evidence for folate and DHA supplementation intake during pregnancy. An alternative approach for further testing this hypothesis in observational studies is also suggested. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36089 10.1016/j.mehy.2011.09.043 Elsevier restricted |
| spellingShingle | Liang, Wenbin Chikritzhs, Tanya Does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development? |
| title | Does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development? |
| title_full | Does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development? |
| title_fullStr | Does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development? |
| title_short | Does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development? |
| title_sort | does light alcohol consumption during pregnancy improve offspring's cognitive development? |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36089 |