WEDNESDAY, July 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) — While it’s long been known that pregnant women should avoid alcohol, a new study suggests that dads-to-be should think twice about drinking, too. Children whose fathers drank heavily around the time of conception were more likely to have physical and mental health problems than kids whose fathers didn’t drink, the study found. Researchers analyzed data from more than 10,500 children born in the United Kingdom between 2002 and 2012. They found that kids whose fathers drank four or more units of alcohol per day around the time of conception had a 31% increased risk of being born underweight. They were also more likely to have cognitive problems and behavioral issues, such as hyperactivity and attention problems. The study, the largest of its kind, was published July 12 in the journal JAMA Network Open. .
Dads Alcohol Habit Affected Fetuses Too, Study Finds
