NOFAS Announces the 2006 Leadership Awards Benefit and Hill Day
The 2006 Leadership Awards Benefit will be on June 7th in Washington, DC from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, and NOFAS Hill Day will be held on June 6th and 7th.
The NOFAS Leadership Award, established in 1994, is presented annually to prominent Members of Congress, community leaders, and other outstanding individuals and organizations in recognition of their commitment and leadership in the fight to prevent alcohol-related birth defects.
This year’s invited Honorary Hosts are former Senate Minority Leader Senator Tom Daschle, Linda Hall Daschle, US Senator Lisa Murkowski and US Senator John McCain. Senators Thad Cochran, Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan are among the invited honorees. Other special guests include FASD family advocates, prominent researchers and celebrities.
This is the most important fundraising event of the year for NOFAS. Tickets and sponsorships range from $100 to $25,000. Please contact Tom Donaldson at (202) 785-4585, donaldson@nofas.org, for more information about sponsorships and donor benefits.
The Third Annual FASD Hill Day will take place on June 6th and 7th. Armed with the latest facts on FASD and meaningful personal stories, grassroots advocates from around the country will meet with and educate their elected representatives in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. NOFAS will arrange meetings between participants, elected officials and Congressional staff. Participants will receive a customized itinerary, special training on key messages and tips for effective meetings, and tailored information packets to provide to congressional offices. The training will begin on June 6th and meetings will be scheduled for the 6th and 7th.
For additional information on Hill Day or the Leadership Awards Benefit, please contact Nav Dayanand at dayanand@nofas.org or call (202)785-4585.
NOFAS Connecticut Awarded Grant from the March of Dimes
NOFAS Connecticut accomplished many goals in 2005. They incorporated, become a 501(c)(3) and received non-profit status with the state of CT, and won a grant from the March of Dimes. The grant award will fund a new education and awareness initiative called, “Think, Don’t Drink. Stop FAS”.
This grant targets five cities/towns in Connecticut with the highest teen pregnancy rate. Nutritionists from the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) programs that service these towns will be trained in the FASD curriculum and be given a FAS “mannequin” doll from the “Baby Think it Over” program. They will also receive notebooks with reproducible handouts, flyers, a NOFAS video, the ARC curriculum and 100 bracelets with “Think Don’t Drink, Stop FAS” imprinted on them.
In addition, one high school in each of the 5 WIC districts was chosen to receive the same materials and training. NOFAS CT will work with the Family and Consumer Science teachers who teach classes on Child Development. For additional incentive, NOFAS CT will be sponsoring a poster contest: “Think, Don’t Drink. Stop FAS. Poster materials will be provided to each school. The contest will be held in April at the state capitol. The winner will receive a $100.00 gift certificate.
In each of these classes and WIC programs, participants will also be asked to participate in forming a local coalition to address teen pregnancy issues. NOFAS CT staff will be facilitating the coalition formation and making contacts with other service providers who may be interested in addressing these concerns. NOFAS congratulates NOFAS CT on all these wonderful achievements!
NOFAS Report on State Approaches to FASD
NOFAS prepared a report on state sponsored FASD efforts. Learn what your state and others are doing to address maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
Read the Full Report: http://www.nofas.org/resource/State_Report.htm
NOFAS January Presentations
NOFAS started the New Year off with several education and outreach activities. We exhibited at the NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo at the Washington DC Convention Center on January 14th and 15th. We were one of 200 exhibitors providing health information to over 78,000 attendees. It was a great opportunity to spread the FASD message in our local community.
On January 12, NOFAS began its tenth year of providing an elective course on FAS/FASD for medical students at Northwestern University in Chicago. The curricula, developed by NOFAS, are designed to introduce FAS and FASD to medical students as a component of their medical training. The course addresses the scientific etiology of alcohol exposure during pregnancy on the developing brain as well as the personal, familial and psychosocial factors that impact those affected by FASD.
On January 27th, NOFAS hosted eight visiting health professionals from Russia. These visitors were invited to the United States under the auspices of the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program to enhance their knowledge about alcoholism and alcohol abuse prevention. NOFAS was asked to provide an FASD presentation as part of the overall training program. NOFAS spoke about the organization's public policy and advocacy efforts; prevention, screening, and assessment; and our various programs, initiatives, and approaches to prevent FAS. NOFAS also translated four of our fact sheets into the Russian language for them to utilize in their home communities. These fact sheets are also available free of charge through our eStore.
Research Briefs
Alcohol Advertising and Youth
Two new reports examine youths’ exposure to alcohol advertising. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) examined the influence of alcohol advertising on youth and the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) examined alcohol advertising on cable television.
NIAAA funded the first-ever national longitudinal survey of the influence of alcohol advertising on youth. The study shows that seeing alcohol ads increases the likelihood of young people drinking and that there was a relationship between advertising expenditures and amount of alcohol consumed. This study underscores the importance of reducing youth exposure to alcohol advertising. The full report can be found online at:
http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/160/1/18
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University released a report showing that alcohol companies significantly increased their advertising activity on cable television and that underage youth were more likely than adults (on a per capita basis) to see these ads. The full report can be found online at: http://camy.org/research/tv1205/
Protective Effects of the Alcohol Dehydrogenase-ADH1B Allele in Children Exposed to Alcohol during Pregnancy
Journal of Pediatrics
This study examined alcohol use for mothers with and without an ADH1B3 allele and the moderating effects of the maternal and child ADH1B3 allele on a broad range of infant and 7.5-year outcomes.
http://www.jpeds.com/article/PIIS0022347605007687/abstract
Commentary by Dr. Kenneth Lyons Jones
The Role of Genetic Susceptibility for Maternal Alcohol Metabolism in Determining Pregnancy Outcome
Journal of Pediatrics
The extent to which genetic polymorphisms influence the effect of various environmental agents on fetal development is of increasing interest and importance in human teratology. Studies of hydantoins, tobacco smoke, and alcohol have all provided some evidence that genetic factors play a role in modulating the effects of these agents on fetal development. This in turn raises the possibility of providing more targeted risk counseling for the subset of women exposed to those agents during pregnancy who are at highest risk of abnormal pregnancy outcomes.
http://www.jpeds.com/article/PIIS0022347605009054/fulltext
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