CRACK NOT BIGGEST THREAT TO INFANTS, RESEARCHERS FIND

CHICAGO (AP) The "crack baby" phenomenon is overblown, according to a
study that suggests poverty and the use of cigarettes, alcohol and other
drugs while pregnant are just as likely as cocaine to cause
developmental problems in children.

Blaming such problems on prenatal cocaine use alone has unfairly
stigmatized children, creating an unfounded fear in teachers that 'crack
kids" will be backward and disruptive, according to the study, an
analysis of 36 previous studies.

"I'm not trying to be Pollyannaish and say there are not problems" with
cocaine use by pregnant women, said Dr. Deborah Frank, an associate
professor of pediatrics at Boston University who led the analysis. "I'm
saying there are many more serious risks to children's development." The
analysis appears in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

The perception that crack babies are a unique phenomenon stems from an
overreaction to research that did not adequately take into account such
factors as family environment and cocaine mothers' use of other
substances while pregnant, the researchers said.

Women who use cocaine while pregnant often smoke, drink, take other
illegal drugs, and live in poverty or otherwise unhealthy environments.
These factors can explain all or some of the problems once solely blamed
on cocaine's presumed effects on the developing fetus, such as low birth
weight, small head size, low scores on mental-development tests and
behavioral problems such as attention deficits, the researchers said.