In the TIME (9/12) “Ideas” column, Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, director of the UCLA Global Center for Children and Families, and Mark Tomlinson, a psychology professor at the Stellenbosch University in South Africa, wrote about the impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which are a direct result of a pregnant woman drinking alcohol during pregnancy. “According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost all of these children will have mental health problems as adults and 82 percent will not live independently.” In their teens years, these children will also “face an increased risk of drug and alcohol addiction.”
The pair encouraged readers to “make a personal pledge to watch out for yourself, your friends, and people you encounter casually who may be at risk of creating a child with the disorder.”
Related Links:
— “This Is Your Child’s Brain on Alcohol,” Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus and Mark Tomlinson, Time, September 12, 2014.