Lactose absorption and consumption in Curaçao schoolchildren.
As an initial step to evaluate the school additional-nourishment program, which provides milk to schoolchildren, a study was conducted in the fall of 1984 on 729 black schoolchildren (aged 8-10 y) in Curaçao, for whom lactose consumption and absorption were determined. A food frequency questionnaire was used to determine lactose consumption, and a breath-hydrogen test was used to determine lactose absorption after a physiological load of 0.5 g lactose/kg body wt was administered in the form of standardized irradiated whole milk. An increase in breath-hydrogen of 20 ppm indicated lactose malabsorption; 14% of the children were malabsorbers of lactose. No relationship was found between lactose malabsorption and lactose consumption, as estimated from the questionnaire. Possible reasons for the lower-than-expected prevalence of lactose malabsorption in this population are the use of a physiological dose of lactose, and the fact that this population is well nourished and free from significant parasitism and other endemic diseases.[1]References
- Lactose absorption and consumption in Curaçao schoolchildren. Debrot, K.F. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. (1990) [Pubmed]
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