Alcohol use and adolescent pregnancy.

Reports indicate that 33.4% of adolescents engage in heavy episodic alcohol consumption, and that 34.8% of adolescents are sexually active by the age of 15 without using any form of contraception. Combined, these activities can lead to adolescent pregnancy complicated by fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), a rare disorder that is totally preventable by abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy. This article offers some primary prevention strategies that nurses can adopt in working with adolescents and communities to help prevent FAS.