Know the difference between dairy intolerance and allergy parents warned

The rights and wrongs about what is or is not healthy for a growing toddler to eat and drink continues to baffle parents.

Much of the confusion kicks in when babies start to wean and parents are left with the responsibility of introducing a new range of food and drink to their child’s diet.

Milk continues to confuse, with around half of parents not even knowing what their growing toddler’s recommended daily allowance of calcium is.

But for some children, milk is not even an option, with an estimated five per cent of the UK population having some level of lactose intolerance.

Dietician, Kate Arthur from Alpro soya, urges parents to make sure they are clued up on the difference between an intolerance and allergy.

According to Alpro Soya research, more than half of parents they surveyed were confused about the difference of both. Children can even outgrow either an allergy or intolerance by the age of three years.

Kate explains: “A dairy intolerance is far more common than a food allergy, it does not involve the immune system and is generally not life threatening. Lactose intolerance for example may occur temporarily after a stomach infection, particularly in young children. Dairy allergies can be longer term and require compete exclusion of dairy products; furthermore, the consequences with an allergy can often be severe and even result in fatalities”.