Good news for pregnant ladies who are craving the occasional drink: Yet another study shows that light drinking is A-OK during pregnancy. London researchers looked at 11,500 children born between September 2000 and January 2002 whose mothers were divided into categories based on how much they drank while pregnant. The children of light drinkers (1-2 drinks per week) were found, at age 5, to have no behavioral or intellectual problems, the Guardian reports. The same children had already been studied at age 3, with similar results noted.
In fact, children of light drinkers were 30% less likely to have behavioral problems than children of women who abstained—and scored higher on mental development tests. Children of heavy drinkers (seven or more drinks a week), on the other hand, were more likely to have behavioral or emotional problems. The British government still advises pregnant women to abstain, however. Click here for another study showing that even the occasional drinking binge doesn’t hurt babies.
(More alcohol is good for you stories.)