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Lactose Intolerance
New Guidelines for Diagnosis and Diet
By Kelly Burgess
Lactose intolerance does sometimes occur in infants who have genetic conditions or illnesses that affect their digestive systems, but this is rare and is not necessarily related to dietary issues. It can also sometimes be linked to premature birth.
"Lactose intolerance [is] fairly common, but it's a gradual thing," says Dr. Melvin B. Heyman, professor of pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) committee on nutrition. "Babies are born with the ability to digest lactose, but after they grow out of infancy some gene turns on or off which helps keeps you from digesting lactose. The majority of the world's population start developing lactose intolerance after infancy, but it's rare in Caucasians before 3 or 4 years of age."
what mom eats while breastfeeding. In fact, breastmilk contains very little lactase and, as Dr. Heyman points out, infants are born with the ability to digest that. This misdiagnosis commonly happens with colicky babies because the signs and symptoms of lactose intolerance are similar to those of colic. However, lactose intolerance can't just be guessed at. It can only be determined by dietary lactose elimination and other tests, which should only be dne under the guidance of a physician.
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