Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Linked to Facial Development at Age 6 to 8 Years

Consistent evidence seen for a link between prenatal alcohol exposure and the shape of the eyes and nose

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with facial development, and the associations persist to age 6 to 8 years, according to a study published online Feb. 10 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Evelyne Muggli, M.P.H., from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Parkville, Australia, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study starting in July 2011 with follow-up through April 2021 to examine whether subtle changes in facial shape with prenatal alcohol exposure found in 12-month-old children were seen at 6 to 8 years of age. Three-dimensional craniofacial images from 549 children of European descent were taken at age 12 months and 6 to 8 years (421 [336 with any prenatal alcohol exposure and 85 control] and 363 [260 with any prenatal alcohol exposure and 103 control] images, respectively); 235 children contributed an image at both time points.

The researchers found consistent evidence for an association between prenatal alcohol exposure and the shape of the eyes and nose at both time points, whether exposure occurred only in trimester 1 or throughout pregnancy. Facial variations were different from those in the clinical discovery sample of facial images of children with a confirmed diagnosis of partial or full fetal alcohol syndrome.

“A linear association between the level of prenatal alcohol exposure and variation in facial shape was not supported, most likely due to a complex association between prenatal alcohol exposure dose and timing and the many molecular pathways affected by alcohol,” the authors write.

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