# Associations of maternal alcohol and non-prescribed substance use with early child growth

## TL;DR

This study shows that maternal alcohol and non-prescribed substance use during pregnancy and early motherhood are linked to reduced child growth up to 24 months.

## Contribution

The study reveals that combined and continuous use of alcohol and substances, especially tobacco, during pregnancy and postpartum impairs early child growth.

## Key findings

- Children exposed to combined alcohol and substance use had significantly lower length and weight at 12, 18, and 24 months.
- Continuous use of alcohol and substances throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period was associated with adverse growth outcomes.
- Tobacco use was the most common non-prescribed substance and contributed to reduced child growth.

## Abstract

Perinatal alcohol and non-prescribed substance use may be detrimental to foetal and infant growth.

This observational study investigated how combined and continued alcohol and non-prescribed substance use throughout antenatal and 1-year postnatal periods were associated with adverse child length and weight outcomes up to 24 months.

Data from participants (n = 1098) with information on alcohol and non-prescribed substance use and infant and child outcomes, were drawn from a prospective birth cohort in the Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS), conducted in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Generalised estimating equations were conducted on standardised child length and weight outcomes at 12, 18 and 24 months.

Non-prescribed substances consisted mostly of tobacco use (77%). Child length and weight were significantly lower in those exposed to the combined use of alcohol and substances compared to no-use and all other use groups (p < 0.001), as confirmed by multivariable analyses. Child length and weight were also significantly lower in those exposed to alcohol and/or substance use throughout the antenatal and 1-year postnatal periods, as confirmed by multivariable analyses.

Interventions to address the potential long-term adverse effects of combined alcohol and substance use particularly tobacco use, as well as continuous use throughout antenatal and early postnatal periods on subsequent child growth, are needed.

This study has contributed to the field by showing that combined and continued use of alcohol and other substances during pregnancy and postpartum is associated with impaired early child growth.