The Journal of the National Medical Association recently released a study about the prevalence of self-reported lactose intolerance among African Americans and its effect on dairy intake (full disclosure: I am a co-author on this study). Inadequate intake of calcium and vitamin D are associated with chronic diseases that disproportionately affect the African-American population. An online survey was administered by a marketing information company, the NPD Group, to a nationally representative sample of African Americans (2,016 adults) and a comparison sample of the general population (GP; 1,084 adults) to assess self-reported lactose intolerance, symptoms, management strategies and attitudes about and consumption of dairy foods. The NPD online panel participants were closely matched to the 2000 U.S. Census for age, gender, income, education, geography and household composition. While results show that African Americans were more likely than the GP to eat fewer dairy foods, experience physical discomfort after consumption, and believe they were lactose intolerant, the big news is that the percentage of 24% is much lower that previously reported .
Avoidance of dairy foods—especially if it is due to misperceptions about lactose intolerance and dairy foods’ health benefits that apply to African Americans—may lead African Americans to miss the benefits of a simple dietary approach for improving health.
This study brings up some important questions about the prevalence of lactose intolerance overall. We held two lactose intolerance webinars last year and received many great participant questions on a variety of topics related to the condition. We’ve rounded up the questions from the webinar and now we’re sharing the answers with you with some help from the experts who presented these webinars. This is the first post in a three-part series here on The Dairy Report. We start by continuing this discussion on the prevalence of lactose intolerance:
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The National Dairy Council's The Dairy Report
