The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has designated
October as
Child Health Month. This year, the AAP is focusing on the
prevention of
alcohol use and abuse that affects children and youth. Specific
priorities
include fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), underage drinking, children
of
alcoholics, drinking and driving, and binge drinking.
Alcohol use during pregnancy has been cited as the most common
known
nongenetic cause of mental retardation among children and youth
(1).
Approximately 700 children aged 0-15 years die each year in
alcohol-involved motor vehicle crashes; many of these children were
being
transported by a drunk driver (2). Approximately 80% of high school
students have had at least one drink of alcohol, and one third have
had
five or more drinks on one or more occasions in any given month
(3). During
October, CDC, in collaboration with AAP and other organizations,
will
highlight the consequences of alcohol use as it relates to children
and
youth.
Additional information about Child Health Month is available
from AAP,
telephone (847) 981-7871, or the World-Wide Web,
http://www.aap.org; and
from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and
Child
Health Bureau, World-Wide Web, http://www.hhs.gov/hrsa/mchb.
Information
about FAS and other alcohol-related birth defects and developmental
disabilities is available from CDC's Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Prevention
Section, telephone (770) 488-7268, or the World-Wide Web,
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/programs/programs.htm. Information on the
role of
alcohol in traffic deaths among children and youth is available
from CDC's
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of
Unintentional Injury Prevention, telephone (770) 488-4652,
World-Wide Web,
http://www.cdc.gov/ ncipc/cmprfact.htm. Information on
alcohol-related
behaviors among youth is available from CDC's Division of
Adolescent and
School Health, telephone (770) 488-3168, World-Wide Web,
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash.
References
Institute of Medicine. Fetal alcohol syndrome: diagnosis,
epidemiology,
prevention, and treatment. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press,
1996.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic safety
facts
1996: children. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 1997.
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