Let’s Get Real: There is Risk for FAS in Every Country

While other countries on the whole may have higher prevalence of drinking than the country that you are adopting from has, that statistic really has nothing to do with your need to individually evaluate your child’s referral for FAS. People drink in every country. Some industry people continue to mislead by quoting old statistics or saying that people in Africa do not drink or it’s just not cultural or acceptable. Well it may not be acceptable, but that is still no guarantee of the health of the child. Even more ridiculous is when an agency says that the abandoned kids that they are referring can’t have FAS. If they are abandoned, then how in the world would you know that? Wouldn’t it be even more important to get an evaluation? Yes, yes it would. The World Health Organization has some of the latest country statistics (2005) about quantity of alcohol drinking in people over the age of 15 here starting on page 102-103. For instance, China’s yearly intake is at 4.4 liters pure alcohol per person over age 15 while the US is at 5.2 liters. European countries tend to drink double that amount or more.

FAS is a possibility in any region. Don’t fall for the adoption industry propaganda that a certain country is “safe” from FAS. You must individually evaluate your child, not look at the country’s total prevalence.

A blog following the story of raising a Chinese adoptee with FAS can be found at Blue Willow Girl and should be viewed as a reference for pre- and post-adoption.(We highly doubt that this is the only case of FAS in Chinese adoptees.)

A great resource  to learn more and get support about FAS is at Better Endings.

For postadoptive parenting, our favorite mental health comparison chart can be found on their toolbox parenting area here. Print out and share with teachers and all health professionals that you deal with. The overlap explains why correct diagnoses are so hard to establish and why RAD may be diagnosed instead of FAS.

McMaster University has a computer program that shows physical attributes of FAS (takes some time to load) here.

Another great reference that all PAPs and APs should read through: FAS Community Resource Center.

China

Since the blog we referenced is about China, we thought that we would give some additional information about recent reports on drinking in China.

A 2009 study’s abstract can be viewed  here. Its title is   Alcohol-Related Disorders in Beijing, China: Prevalence, Socio-Demographic Correlates, and Unmet Need for Treatment. “

Results:  The 12-month prevalence of alcohol use and episodic heavy drinking were 32.5 and 13.8%, respectively. The 12-month and lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence were 1.7 and 4.3%, respectively. Age above 24 years, male sex, being married and employed, low education level (junior high school, primary school or illiterate), rural residence, and having comorbid psychiatric disorders were all significantly associated with a higher likelihood of alcohol-related disorders. Only 2.4% of the subjects with alcohol dependence were receiving treatment, and a mere 1.4% had sought treatment from mental health professionals.

Conclusions:  Nationwide surveys are urgently needed to further explore the prevalence of alcohol-related disorders in China.”

Three articles from July and August 2011 about a recent binge-drinking study can be found at Medscape , Medical Express, and even in Guardian.

The Medscape article explains “Results showed that 17,736 of the subjects (35.7%) were current drinkers, defined as having had at least 1 alcoholic drink in the previous 12 months.

Male drinking prevalence was 55.6%, with an average of 47.8 grams of alcohol consumed a day. For females, 15% were current drinkers, with a per-day alcohol consumption average of 19.1 grams.

Excessive drinking was defined as more than 25 grams per day for men and 15 grams for women. Binge drinking was defined as more than 50 and 40 grams, respectively, in 1 day during the past year.

The median number of annual binge drinking episodes was 5.6 for male drinkers and 2.4 for females. Even among the moderate drinkers, 31.5% of the males and 16.1% of the females reported binge drinking in the previous 12 months.

Further, proportions of excessive drinking, frequent dinking, and binge drinking were 62.7%, 26.3%, 57.3% for men and 51.0%, 7.8%, and 26.6% for women, respectively.

In addition, binge drinking was strongly associated with drinking frequency, and drinking quantity increased with drinking frequency in males and females.”

Guardian specifies that baijiu is the spirit of choice. “The clear spirit, usually made from sorghum, ranges in price from as little as five yuan – less than 50p – to tens of thousands of yuan for vintage bottles of the best brands. It is a staple of formal or celebratory dinners, often coupled with beer. It is also notorious for causing inebriation, since it is 80 to 120 proof and frequently consumed in large quantities.