[Lactose intolerance. Its definition, its prevalence in Mexico, and its implications in milk consumption]

In this document we describe some aspects of lactose and milk intolerance, discuss the results of studies carried out previously in Mexico, and report an investigation whose objective was to quantify the impact of lactose intolerance on the habitual consumption of milk in an open population. The prevalence of lactose intolerance and its effect on the consumption of milk was studied in three regions of Mexico. The design of the study was prospective, randomized, double-blind and crossover. The presence of milk intolerance was investigated in 960 subjects with ages between 6 months and 99 years who, as a function of age, received 240 or 360 mL of intact milk and the same amount of hydrolyzed milk. We quantified the consumption of milk and the presence of symptoms after ingesting the tested milk. Seven percent manifested symptoms with the intact milk but only 2% with the hydrolyzed milk (p < 0.001). The presence of symptoms in the intolerant subjects was significantly associated with a lower consumption of milk in comparison with the tolerant individuals (p < 0.001). On the other hand, the consumption of milk appeared to be only marginally associated with the intolerance and its symptoms. We conclude that lactose intolerance does not appear to be a major factor in determining milk consumption in Mexican healthy populations.