Reply to Is there any objective source of information on light drinking during pregnancy?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b][quote=Anonymous]No because the CDC and large health organizations recognize that most people are morons, first and foremost.[/b] Then they also know that people will take more liberal actions based on their recs. The my say zero drinking and some people will still drink. They say a few drinks are ok and some will use it as justification to get smashed. Population health looks at people like a massive group, not as individuals, and certainly not as intelligent adults who can make their own personal decisions. Do you rely on large professional bodies to make all decisions for your life?[/quote]

Quote your source. Otherwise, this is just something you and the "I love my wine more than my child" camp wants to believe. [/quote]

Says the person who clearly knows zilch about public health.[/quote]

This idea that the CDC "thinking that most people are morons" is completely subjective in the absence of a reputable source or actual statement by the CDC. Any thinking person can agree to that.[/quote]

Well, I would have thought any thinking person could realize PP was being hyperbolic, but apparently not.

[b]The CDC, like any good public health organization, is making the assumptions described above.  Most people aren’t morons, but most women who drink to the level at which exposure would be harmful to a developing fetus are going to need a very hard line about drinking and pregnancy.  They literally cannot moderate their drinking if they drink at all.  Hence the “no safe quantity” language.[/quote][/b]

I get that this statement supports society's increasingly common understanding of why the CDC might caution women to completely give up alcohol during pregnancy. But it seems that this idea is just repeated so many times, without an official acknowledgement of its accuracy, that people, many of them very well educated, start to believe it. This is dangerous. The "no safe quantity" language that you reference is part of this societal understanding that lacks any official foundations. The reason the CDC uses this language, to my understanding and that of many scientists, is because it is unethical to conduct randomized, controlled experiments of alcohol consumption among pregnant women; thus, a literal, black and white "safe amount" can never be established.

If you happen to work for the CDC and can prove this all wrong, please do let us all know. Otherwise, I'd suggest we all stop touting this line about the CDC making statemements becuase of people who just can't seem to drink in moderation.

[/quote]
No.  Again, it’s a *public health* issue.  While conducting an RCT on this issue would be unethical, there are multiple studies out there showing no risk for up to one drink per day during pregnancy.  But the message to the *public* has to be more stark because there are people who cannot moderate their drinking, i.e., those addicted to alcohol.  I don’t work for the CDC, but I work in science and know enough about health communications to get it.  I mean, informed consent documents are written at an eighth grade reading level.  Because many people wouldn’t understand them if the reading level was higher.  Most people in this country don’t have a college degree, let alone a graduate degree.  I understand what you’re saying, and the party line drives me slightly nuts, too, but the simple fact is the vast majority of people aren’t as well-educated as you seem to think they are.

That people who should be well-educated enough to discern the nuance is a different issue, and IMO one based on emotion rather than logic.[/quote]

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