Nikki writes:
>To add to the discussion of substance use, abuse, and parenting:  a local
>pediatrician, Hallum Hurt, did a study looking at the aftermath of cocaine use
>in pregnancy. She found that poverty and an impoverished life made
neurobehavioral problems in those children, not that they had been exposed
prenatally to cocaine.

A study published last year in one of the main medical journals reported
that children exposed to cocaine use prenatally had an IQ deficit of 3
points compared to children from the same area (poor folks in Philadelphia)
who had not been exposed to cocaine prenatally.  The average IQ score at age
4 in the cocaine-exposed group was 79, compared to 82 for the non-exposed
group.  In other words, the 3 point loss from prenatal cocaine exposure was
insignificant compared to the 18 point loss from living "an impoverished
life."  The authors of this study made a big stink about how the US needed
to spend millions more in special education and remedial language training
for these kids to overcome this 3 point deficit.  Yet no one (except us)
seems to mind that formula-fed kids have an 8 point IQ deficit, on average.
Baffling.

Kathy Dettwyler