Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is one of the most common and devastating birth abnormalities among American children. This paper will provide an in-depth look at FAS, using four reliable sources as a basis of this analysis. The sources used are Streissguth, Jacobson & Jacobson, the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD), and National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS). The information obtained from these sources will be compared with the textbook Infants and Children Prenatal Through Middle Childhood (Berk, 2001).

FAS is a combination of birth defects that is associated with consuming alcohol during pregnancy. It is the leading cause of mental retardation and birth defects, and is entirely preventable. About 12,000 infants are born every year with FAS, while three times this number have ARND or ARBD (NOFAS).

Those with FAS have a distinctive set of growth deficiencies, facial abnormalities, and central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction...
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