UCLA and UC San Diego released the findings of a study exploring alcohol use in Latina expectant mothers. Excerpt:

“Traditionally held cultural values that discourage women from drinking alcohol may change when women, such as Latinas, emigrate to the U.S.,” said Christina D. Chambers, assistant professor of pediatrics and family and preventive medicine at the University of California, San Diego and corresponding author for the study. “Furthermore, due to cultural, educational, or language barriers, low-income Latinas may be less likely to admit to alcohol use and/or have less accurate awareness of the risks of drinking during pregnancy.”

“For the first time, we have a systematic analysis of drinking behavior in Latina women,” said Mary J. O’Connor, a professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles as well as director of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Clinic at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. “The typical myth in the past is that Latina women don’t drink, but in fact, this is a population that is at risk, and we need to provide this population with the supports that they need to decrease their drinking during pregnancy.”

I am ignorant to the “stereotype” the study refers to. I have never heard that Latina women were any less likely to drink while pregnant than any other group. Am I missing something?

Via / Eureka Alert and Google News