American Indian Culture and Research Journal

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to determine the kinds and amounts of information possessed by urban American Indians in Southern California regarding the effects of alcohol on the developing fetus. The identification of the nature and extent of American Indians' knowledge regarding FAS may assist in developing future prevention efforts. Since ancient times, a relationship has been noted between alcohol use by pregnant women and the occurrence of deformities in their offspring. However, it was not until 1973 that the pattern of facial characteristics, growth deficiencies, and developmental delays often observed in children of chronic alcoholic mothers was identified as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Subsequent research established alcohol as a teratogen, a substance ”capable of producing death, malformations, growth deficiency, or CNS dysfunction depending on the dose and timing of prenatal exposure and the individual genetic endowment of mother and child.”