Lactose Intolerance Analysis

Treatment of lactose intolerance is only necessary if symptoms are present (Coutts, 2013). The main treatment of lactose intolerance is diet control which includes the exclusion of lactose from the diet with initial discontinuation of milk and cream (Coutts, 2013). Non-dairy milks such as soya, almond and lactose free milk that are calcium and vitamin D enriched should be utilized; higher calorie, protein and micronutrient enriched options should be selected over the lower calorie options (Kennedy, 2010). The patient’s mother was encouraged to encourage other foods that were high in calcium such as calcium fortified cereals, leafy green vegetables, and soy products (United States Department of Agriculture, 2015). The patient’s mother was taught to initially continue feeding LH other dairy products such as yogurt and cheese as symptoms are less likely to occur with these products; if symptoms continue to occur the patient’s intake of other dairy products should be stopped (Kennedy, 2010). The patient’s mother was also …show more content…
Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). The government aims to increase calcium consumption from 1,119 milligrams to 1,3000 in people older than 2 years old. Although my patient was less than two, this goal will become difficult to obtain as he ages due to lower dairy consumption. Because calcium is so important in children, I recommended that LH first cut out milk and replace it with lactose free milks that are have calcium added. It is recommended that patients who are initially treated with lactose intolerance continue to eat other dairy products such as cheese and yogurt to increase calcium intake, if the child is unable to tolerate dairy products than it is recommended that dairy is completely cut out of the diet and practitioners should consider adding calcium supplements to ensure normal bone density (Heyman,