Alaska tops birth defects national average

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 17 (UPI) -- Babies born in Alaska are twice as likely to be born with major birth defects as babies in the 49 other states, a state health department study indicates.

State officials say they're at a loss to explain why all races of Alaskans top national rates for "major congenital anomalies," based on a review of data from 1996 through 2002 drawn from the Alaska Birth Defect Registry, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Rates were especially high among Alaska Natives, for whom birth defects were reported in 10.5 percent of all live births, compared to 6 percent for all Alaskans, the statistics indicated. Among white Alaskans the rate was 4 percent. Among all Americans the rate was 3 percent.

Congenital heart problems lead all other types of birth defects in Alaska, just as they do nationwide, the study reported.

Alaska public health officials long suspected Alaskan infants suffer higher rates of birth defects, said Janine Schoellhorn, an analyst in the state's Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology unit.

"This is the first time we've been able to produce estimates that we are confident in publishing -- because we now have several years of data," Schoellhorn said.