In 1993, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Unit in the Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the National Center for Environmental Health.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is characterized by a variety of physical and behavioral traits that result from maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Features of FAS include prenatal or postnatal growth deficiency, characteristic abnormal facial features, and central nervous system deficits.

1993, FAS was reported in 126 of 188,905 newborns (rate: 6.7 per 10,000). Overall, during 1979-1993, FAS was reported in 2032 of 9,434,560 newborns (overall rate: 2.2 per 10,000 births). The rate for 1993 was more than sixfold higher than that for 1979 (1.0 per 10,000 births).