ALCOHOL, MARIJUANA, AND TOBACCO - EFFECTS OF PRENATAL EXPOSURE ON OFFSPRING GROWTH AND MORPHOLOGY AT AGE-6

Little is known about the long-term effects of prenatal exposure to al cohol. There are even fewer reports on the longitudinal effects of exp osure to either marijuana or tobacco during pregnancy. This study is o n the 6-year follow-up of 668 children enrolled in the Maternal Health Practices and Child Development Project. Mothers were interviewed at the 4th and 7th months of pregnancy, and mothers and children were eva luated at delivery, 8, and 18 months, and 3 and 6 years postpartum. At 6 years of age, children who were exposed to alcohol prenatally were significantly smaller in weight, height, head circumference, and palpe bral fissure width. These effects on sire were mediated by the effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on the offspring at 8 months. Prenatal al cohol exposure was also significantly associated with maternal reports of the child's appetite at 6 years. There were no effects of prenatal marijuana or tobacco exposure on growth when the children were age 6. There were also no significant relationships between prenatal exposur e to alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco and the rate of morphologic anomal ies, including the features of the fetal alcohol syndrome.