The West Coast has the third-highest incidence of foetal alcohol diseases in the country, according to new research.The Western Cape's department of social development released the findings of a study by the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research yesterday.Social development MEC Albert Fritz said the study found that 6.4% of children in the province were affected by one of the diseases classified in the foetal alcohol spectrum, the most severe of which is foetal alcohol syndrome.De Aar, in the Northern Cape, has the highest rate in the world, with 12.2% of the population affected.Witzenberg, in the Western Cape, is ranked second at 9.6%.According to the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research website, the disease can affect any child whose mother drank alcohol when she was pregnant and is more common than Down syndrome, spina bifida and autism combined. Many children who have attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder contracted it because their mother consumed alcohol during pregnancy.The foundation examined Grade 1 pupils from 14 schools "to assess their general health and nutrition status, as well as the presence of physical features of" foetal alcohol diseases, said Fritz."The West Coast's prevalence rate means that there is a serious problem with [foetal alcohol diseases] in this area, and the impact of this will be felt throughout the community. This is why the department of social development commissioned the foundation to render an awareness and prevention project alongside research activities," he said."The reason moms are drinking is because it's so culturally acceptable," said Foundation CEO Leana Olivier.She said that up to 80% of pregnancies in this country were unplanned and that meant that many women, not knowing they were pregnant, drank during the first five months of their pregnancy.Olivier said that about "6.4% of the children in this region [have] permanent, irreversible brain damage because of parents drinking alcohol"...