THE EFFECT OF LOW TO MODERATE PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE AND BINGE DRINKING EPISODES ON DRAW-A-PERSON AT AGE 5 YEARS.

This study examined the effects of maternal alcohol consumption and binge drinking during pregnancy on children's Draw-A-Person (DAP) scores. Participants were 1,533 5-year-olds from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Regression analyses revealed an adverse effect of nine or more drinks per week. A drop in mean DAP score of 6.26 (95 % CI: -12.24; -0.39) was observed in the fully adjusted model. A significant interaction between average weekly consumption and binge episodes also was observed. Findings suggest that prenatal exposure to moderate weekly doses of alcohol and binge drinking episodes are associated with lowered scores on the DAP.

A national action plan for promoting preconception health and health care in the United States (2012-2014).

Preconception health and health care (PCHHC) has gained increasing popularity as a key prevention strategy for improving outcomes for women and infants, both domestically and internationally. The Action Plan for the National Initiative on Preconception Health and Health Care: A Report of the PCHHC Steering Committee (2012-2014) provides a model that states, communities, public, and private organizations can use to help guide strategic planning for promoting preconception care projects. Since 2005, a national public-private PCHHC initiative has worked to create and implement recommendations on this topic. Leadership and funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention combined with the commitment of maternal and child health leaders across the country brought together key partners from the public and private sector to provide expertise and technical assistance to develop an updated national action plan for the PCHHC Initiative. Key activities for this process included the identification of goals, objectives, strategies, actions, and anticipated timelines for the five workgroups that were established as part of the original PCHHC Initiative. These are further described in the action plan. To assist other groups doing similar work, this article discusses the approach members of the PCHHC Initiative took to convene local, state, and national leaders to enhance the implementation of preconception care nationally through accomplishments, lessons learned, and projections for future directions.