Tobacco Documents Online

rtews from t-tze _\ -11U1\ uU u -1.AUl l.f Tiie Nationai Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 in order to provide for a broader participation b-s• American scientists and engineers in the wor7: oj the Academy. The flcademti• was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1863 as a private organization with a responsibility or examining questions of science and technology at the request of the Federal Government. The National .4cadem y o f Engineering was organi.zed in 1964 under the original Nf1S charter. The National Research Council now serves as the agent of both Academies in the conduct of studies and investigations in the public interest. '1101 CONSTITL"TION AVENUE. 1...".. «'ASHINGTO:\. D.C. 20418 AREA • CODE 202 EX 3-8100 P.R. NOV ~ '004- "...encourage the use of foods that serve the nutritional needs...whatever these foods may be." PANEL RECOMMENDS DIETS FOR PREGNANT WOMEN TAILOREDT~~RAL PRACTICES; WARNS AGAINST USE OF ALCOHOL A Date : Nov. 3, 1982 Contact: Pepper Leeper, (202) 334-2138 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE I WASHINGTON - Certain groups of pregnant women and their babies are at special risk because of eating and drinking practices that deprive them of essential nutrients or expose them to toxic substances. Cultural and religious taboos, for example, may influence women to avoid foods that are generally considered to_be needed during pregnancy. Excessive use of tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs may pose a double hazard by interfering directly with fetal development and at the same time by reducing the mother's fooc intake and her ability to utilize certain nutrients effectively. A National Research Council committee has concluded* that much behavior associated with food selection and consumption is deep-seated, difficult to change, and therefore requires special attention from those providing medical counseling to pregnant women. (OVER) *The committee's summary report, Alternative Dietary Praetices and Nutritional Abuses in Pregnancy, is available without charge from the Food and Nutrition Board at the letterhead address. Reporters may obtain copies from the Office of Information, also at the letterhead address. NOV ,1 2 1982 TIMN 254263

In a summary of papers praser.ted at an earlier workshop, the committee admonisned health practitioners to learn the cultural mores influencing their patients' food choices. The committee suggested that practitioners, after evaluating their patients' total diet, should establish an "empathetic, non-judgemental dialogue," and "encourage the use of foods that serve the nutritional needs of the woman, whatever these foods may be." The committee pointed out that the so-called "orthodox middle-class American diet" is not the diet of large numbers of Americans. For example, many black, Asian, and Hispanic Americans are not accustomed to drinking milk or eating cheese, and health-care counselors need to recognize this difference and suggest alternate sources of calcium. If practitioners base recommendations exclusively on the orthodox diet, "therapeutic communications may fail completely, sometimes to the physical detriment of the patient," the committee warned. The committee offered the following advice: Tobacco--"Smoking is one of the most important greventable-determinants of low birth weight in the United States." Both nicotine and carbon monoxide cause hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency to the body's tissues, and "the two compounds may act together to maintain the fetus in a chronic state of hypoxia," the committee said. Pregnancy complications, like vaginal bleeding, are 25 percent greater among women who smoke less than one pack a day and 92 percent greater among more-than-one-pack-a-day smokers than among nonsmokers. Alcohol--A high proportion of babies of women who consume large quantities of alcohol are born with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)--a condition identified by distinctive facial features, low birth weight, impairment of the central nervous system, and other birth defects. The committee advised pediatricians that this condition "may be one of the more frequent recognizable causes of mental deficiency and developmental delay." Because a "safe" level of alcohol intake has not been established, the committee said, "the prudent and wise recommendation is to advise against alcohol intake during pregnancy." (MORE) TIIV1N 254264

-3- Caffeine--Animal studies have indicated possible birth defects from high levels of caffeine, but the findings have not been corroborated in humans. Therefore the committee recommended "moderation in caffeine intake during pregnancy." Over-the-Counter Drugs--The salicylates (the main ingredient in aspirin) cause skeletal defects in rodent fetuses, and acetaminophen (an ingredient of other analgesics) is known to cause birth defects in animals, but no conclusive evidence of the effects on humans has been recorded. Other patent medicines have not been inveszigated fully. The committee concluded that "until more definitive data are available, the indiscriminate use of OTC (over-the-counter) drugs during pregnancy should be discouraged." Megadoses of Vitamins--Animal experiments indicate that large doses of vitamins A and D cause birth defects. However, the committee concluded that evidence in humans is insufficient to establish the degree of risk. Vegetarian Diets--Vegetarians who eat milk and egg products generally maintain adequate nutrition during pregnancy, the committee said, but vegetarians who avoid all animal products are at greater risk of giving birth to abnormally small infants. To supply needed nutrients, practitioners should prescribe high-energy, high-density foods to assure sufficient weight gain and successful lactation, the committee advised. Pica--This little understood practice of eating nonfoods, such as laundry starch and clay, is relatively prevalent among low-income, rural blacks in the South, although it exists in other regions and among other ethnic groups as well, the committee said. The committee's concern was that women who practice pica may be too full to eat nutritious food. Cases of toxemia, hypertension, and impacted bowels also have been reported, and the committee advised health practitioners to be aware of the practice. (OVER) 'YLNiN 254265

-4- The complete workshop proceedings will be published in Dece-^ber. The Bureau of Community Health Services, of the Department of Healt'rh and Human Services' Health Services Administration, supported the workshop and the committee's preparation of the report. k. Ann Reynolds, chancellor of California State University, Long Beach, chaired the Committee on Nutrition of the Mother and Preschool Child, a unit of the National Research Council's Food and Nutrition Boara. Other committee members are Lindsay H. Allen, department of nutritional sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs; Virginia A. Beal, department of food science and nutrition, Chenoweth Laboratory, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Jo Anne Brasel, Clinical Research Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance; Preston V. Dilts, Jr., department of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Tennessee School of Medicine, Memphis; John L. Duhring, department of obstetrics and gynecology, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo; Frank Falkner, department of social and administrat'ive health science, University of California School of Public Health, Berkeley; and George R. Kerr, Human Nutrition Center, School of Public Health, The University of Texas, Houston. Myrtle L. Brown, of the Food and Nutrition Board, served as staff officer. pi: 1,10 TIMN 254266