Drinking low to moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy may not have any damaging developmental effects on children five years later, according to new research published Tuesday.
But, the authors stressed, pregnant women should still err on the side of caution and avoid alcohol altogether, since no safe level of alcohol consumption has been established.
In a series of five studies, Danish researchers statistically evaluated how different levels of drinking during pregnancy affected the five-year-old children of 1,628 women. They compared women who drank 0, 1 to 4, 5 to 8 and more than 9 drinks per week while they were pregnant and assessed their children's IQ, attention span and their capacity for what are known as executive functions, which include organization and planning.
