It's the scariest statistic you will read today: Between 10 and 15 percent of American women are estimated to drink some alcohol during pregnancy.

As shocked as we are to read that, matters may be even worse than you know. A new study has concluded that even small amounts of alcohol consumed during pregnancy can have severe negative effects reaching across multiple generations and a lifelong impact on the child.

Researchers at the University of Binghamton in upstate New Yorkinvestigated the effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy on alcohol-related behavior in future generations. Their study, published in the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, concluded that even a small dose of alcohol during pregnancy can increase the risk of alcoholism in the next three generations.

The scientists gave pregnant rats the equivalent of one glass of wine each day for 4 consecutive days, during what was the rat equivalent of the second trimester in humans. They then tested the young offspring of the following two generations to see if they had any more propensity to consume alcohol themselves.

Results clearly indicated that the rats whose mothers or grandmothers consumed the equivalent of one glass of wine just four times during the pregnancy were more likely to have a preference for alcohol themselves.

The implication is that, should a mother drink but a small amount of alcohol during her pregnancy, there is a greater chance that her children and grandchildren will become alcoholic.

Scientists have previously found a significantly higher rate of alcohol use disorder among adolescents born to mothers who consumed three or more drinks when pregnant, compared with those whose mothers did not drink. These tests conclude that even moderate amounts of alcohol partaken in utero or during early life puts humans at greater risk for alcoholism during adolescence and adulthood.

Such deleterious exposure to alcohol can occur during pregnancy, while breastfeeding, or even when “called for” by special occasions. One study shows that 39% of 8-10-year-old children in Pennsylvania had drunk or sipped alcohol.

What's the science behind all this? Some scientists believe that the increased propensity to drink is may be linked to prenatal alcohol exposure that alters the neuro-physiological response to the challenge of alcohol.

The studies in this area are ongoing. The next step will be to identify how this effect passes through the generations by looking at the effects of alcohol on the genome and epigenome, which are the molecules that control gene translation.