Brief Communication

Lactase persistence (LP) occurs at a very low frequency in indigenous populations from Latin America, offering an opportunity to understand the relationship between this genetic trait and patterns of dairy consumption. Here, the frequency of LP is analyzed from Mapuche and ‐an adjacent‐ mestizo population inhabiting the Araucanía region. In addition to genotyping for LP, participants were surveyed in relation to general perception and consumption habits of dairy products. Low LP frequency (10%) and very low dairy intake was found among the Mapuche population as compared with Mestizo populations inhabiting Chile. The survey reported that the main reasons for avoidance of dairy were the gastrointestinal symptoms after dairy intake and cultural dietary habits. The interaction between low LP genotype frequency, low dairy intake, and sociocultural determinants is here discussed in the light of their potential health outcomes. Am J Phys Anthropol 155:482–487, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Biology · Consumption (sociology) · Geography · Indigenous · Lactase · Lactose · Persistence (discontinuity) · Population · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Trait · Demography · Diet and metabolism studies · Digestive system and related health · Ecology · Food Science · Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease

• Height in eighteenth-century Chilean men

  Open Access•Manuel Llorca‐jaña, Juan Navarrete-Montalvo et al.•Economics & Human Biology•2018

  Incluir item

• DNA polymorphisms associated with lactase persistence, self‐perceived symptoms of lactose intolerance, milk and dairy consumption, and ancestry, in the Uruguayan population

  Open Access•Raúl Germán Negro Gaudin, G Figueiro et al.•American Journal of Human Biology•2023

  Incluir item

• A biocultural examination of home food production and child growth in highland Peru

  Open Access•Morgan K Hoke•American Journal of Human Biology•2020

  Incluir item

• Lactase non‐persistence and general patterns of dairy intake in indigenous and mestizo chilean populations

  Open Access•Catalina I Fernández, Nicolás Montalva Rivera et al.•American Journal of Human Biology•2016

  Incluir item

• Site‐specific genetic divergence in parallel hybrid zones suggests nonallopatric evolution of reproductive barriers

  Open Access•Marina Panova, Johan Hollander et al.•Molecular Ecology•2006

  Incluir item

• Convergent adaptation of human lactase persistence in Africa and Europe

  Open Access•Sarah A Tishkoff, Floyd A Reed et al.•Nature Genetics•2007

  Incluir item

• Genetic Signatures of Strong Recent Positive Selection at the Lactase Gene

  Open Access•Todd Bersaglieri, Pardis C Sabeti et al.•The American Journal of Human…•2004

  Incluir item

• Situación socioeconómica reciente de los mapuches en la Región de la Araucanía

  Open Access•Rodrigo Cerda, Rodrigo A Cerda•Estudios Públicos•2009

  Incluir item

• Lactose digestion capacity and perceived symptomatic response after dairy product consumption in Tokelau Island migrants

  Open Access•Susan M Cheer, John S Allen•American Journal of Human Biology•1997

  Incluir item

• Alfred

  Open Access•Michael V Osier, Kei‐Hoi Cheung et al.•American Journal of Physical…•2002

  Incluir item

• Stability or variation? Patterns of lactase gene and its enhancer region distributions in Brazilian Amerindians

  Open Access•Deise C Friedrich, Sidia M Callegari‐jacque et al.•American Journal of Physical…•2012

  Incluir item

• Ganadería Y Empresarios Ganaderos De La Araucanía, 1900-1960

  Open Access•Juan Pablo Rodríguez, Jorge Pinto Rodríguez•Historia•2011

  Incluir item

• The Criollo

  Manuel A Machado, Manuel Machado et al.•Hispanic American Historical Review•1979

  Incluir item