For example, if your mother is lactose intolerant, and your father isn't, you may or may not be able to digest dairy products. Also, if your great-great aunt is lactose intolerant, and no one else in your family is, you still may have inherited the tendency. It may be passed from generation to generation without affecting anyone but you. Because of this genetic link, certain geographical and racial communities are more prone to lactose intolerance. An Australian couple looked into lactose intolerance when their daughter was diagnosed with milk allergy and posted their findings on the web.
Lactose intolerance is found in both children and adults.
The following table is from Sanitarium and gives some idea as to who is affected in Australia. Note the ability to digest lactose decreases with age. So, obviously, caucasians are the least affected by this disorder. I did an online Quizlet for the first few months of 1999, asking visitors to this page to tell me how they handle their lactose intolerance. Other See the fancy graph too.