Alcohol-related harm in children may be underestimated

Valdemar Landgren

08.04.2025 - Out of 206 fourth-grade students, 19 showed signs of harm caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. This is the finding of a pilot study conducted at the University of Gothenburg. The results suggest that alcohol-related damage during pregnancy may be just as common in Sweden as in several other European countries.

For the study, the standard health check for fourth-grade students at six schools in western Sweden was expanded. The participants underwent additional medical assessments including examinations of physical features, body measurements, memory, attention, and problem-solving skills. Parents and teachers provided information about the children’s behaviour and school performance, and mothers were interviewed about their diet and alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Larger study needed

Among the 206 children examined, signs of fetal alcohol-related damage were identified in 19. Ten had neuropsychiatric difficulties linked to alcohol, four showed milder effects, and five were diagnosed with the most severe form—fetal alcohol syndrome. The overall prevalence in the study group was 5.5 percent, with fetal alcohol syndrome accounting for 2.4 percentage points.

The study was led by Valdemar Landgren, researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy and the Gillberg Centre at the University of Gothenburg, and a specialist in psychiatry at Skaraborg Hospital in Skövde.

“Carrying out the study as an expanded school health screening worked well. Our study is small, and a larger national study is needed to gain a more complete picture. If the prevalence holds in larger studies, it would indicate that Sweden is on par with many other European countries,” he says.

Few receive a diagnosis

There is a lack of large-scale scientific studies on the prevalence of fetal alcohol-related harm in Sweden, making it difficult to determine how common these conditions are. Nationwide, only about 60 children receive such a diagnosis each year, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare’s statistics.

“This diagnosis is rarely made in Swedish healthcare today. One reason is that you don’t look for what you don’t know or believe to be rare. Well-supported knowledge of how frequently it occurs is important, both for accurate diagnosis and for enabling society to take preventive measures,” says Valdemar Landgren.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) include a range of conditions, from mild to severe, that can affect learning, concentration, memory, impulse control, and motor skills. Some children also have distinctive facial features and low birth weight.

In Ireland, the estimated prevalence of fetal alcohol-related disorders is 4.8 percent, in Italy 4.5 percent, and in Croatia 5.3 percent.

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Study: Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study in Western Swedenhttps://doi.org/10.1111/apa.70059