Dr. Eugene Hoyme spent years studying Fetal Alcohol Syndrome at Stanford University. He's now head of pediatrics at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, S.D. He's taking his research to South Africa. (MPR Photo/Cara Hetland)Dr. Eugene Hoyme, chairman of pediatrics at Sanford Health, is known around the world for developing diagnostic criteria for this disorder. Hoyme says many countries deny alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a problem.
Hoyme uses Italy as an example, where drinking wine has been part of the culture for 2,000 years. He says many doctors refuse to even discuss the effects of that behavior.
"We did a study and the prevalence is 2 percent in Italy, and 1 percent in the United States. The Italians still have a hard time believing that's really true, and it's just because [wine] is like mother's milk to them," says Hoyme. "Part of it is, as a society we don't accept alcohol is a problem and we don't do a good job educating physicians about it."
December 3, 2007
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