Vergelijking van de invloed van langdurige verstrekking van melk en lactose-vrije melk op de voedingstoestand van Bosnegerkinderen in Suriname in relatie tot het lactose-intolerantie-"probleem" / Comparison of the influence of prolonged supplying of milk and lactose-free milk on the nutritional status of Bushnegro children in Suriname in relation to the lactose-intolerance-"problem"

Report of a study concerning the practical meaning of hypolactasia (lactose-intolerance) in Surinamese Bushnegro children. At 2 boarding schools in the Surinamese interior, during the school year 1974 to 1975, each child was supplied daily with ca. 200 ml of milk. At one boarding school this was normal skimed milk and at the other lactose-free skimmed milk. The nutritional status was measured, both in the beginning and at the end of the school year, but no significant differences were found. Lactose-free milk had no better effect than the normal milk. There was also no improvement in the amount of hypolactasia. Thus, racial differences in the prevalence of hypolactasia seemed to have a genetic basis. Therefore, it is not caused by an adaptation to milk consumption. Combined results of weight tests proved that lactose-intolerance and milk-intolerance are not the same. It is concluded that normal, healthy Bushnegro children do tolerate and utilize milk in normal quantities