Rich, white women more likely to drink during pregnancy
White, affluent, university educated women are more likely to drink during pregnancy than indigenous women in Australia, an international expert says.
Canadian barrister David Boulding said Australia had a perception problem with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, thinking it was mainly an Aboriginal issue.
The disorder covers an umbrella of conditions caused by women drinking during pregnancy and has been linked to permanent brain damage and significant learning and behavioural disorders in children.
The Courier-Mail revealed on Saturday that the victim of the Aurukun child-rape case that last year made international headlines was born with fetal alcohol syndrome.
Mr Boulder said University of California researchers who recently studied women from a cross-section of ethnicities and communities found white females with university education and earning 400 per cent above the poverty line drank more than any other group during pregnancy.
He said Australia was no different.
"The research indicates that upper-class white women drink more than women of colour," he said.
"This is an alcohol problem, it's got nothing to do with the colour of your skin.
"I am not saying it is not a huge problem in the Aboriginal population. It is a ginormous problem."
The Courier Mail
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