A look at nutritional supplement use in adolescents

Abstract

This study highlights the fact that many nutritional supplements fall within the spectrum of adolescent use, and that this use may be driven by misguided beliefs in their performance-enhancing abilities. Groups at particular risk, such as individuals involved in physical activity to a high degree, are highlighted and the need for gender-specific information is suggested.

Sport Nutrition Knowledge, Behaviors and Beliefs of High School Soccer Players

“…One unique finding of this study was that among our group of adolescent athletes, Latinos were twice as likely to believe that nutrition supplements were necessary to support training program compared to Whites. The belief that sport nutrition supplements will enhance performance use is not unusual in athletes [44], but research has not examined this trend in adolescent Latino athletes living in the US. One possible explanation for higher use in Latino athletes may be related to the higher use of supplements by Hispanics adults.…”

Protein supplements and adolescent athletes: A pilot study investigating the risk knowledge, motivations and prevalence of use

“…This may be expected due to the perceived link between protein supplement intake and athletic performance . Despite other studies looking at supplementation broadly, prevalence of protein supplementation is often documented within such studies, with usage ranging from 11% to 36% . This large discrepancy in prevalence of protein supplement use can be largely explained by the differences in target population, with some studies examining elite athletes and others looking at recreational athletes.…”

Prevalence of nonvitamin, nonmineral supplement usage among students in a Turkish university

“…Subjects' views about NVNM supplement use and the health benefits associated with it were used to assess the motivational factors related to supplement use in this population. Items were based on those of previous studies [24-28], and also contained the most frequently consumed food items in the Turkish population. Twenty two opinions were expressed, consisting of such items as 'vitamins and minerals can provide energy', 'maintain health', increase longevity', 'reduce stress' 'prevent colds', 'improve mental function', 'reduce the risk of chronic diseases', or 'aid in recovery from fatigue', all of which were assessed to be commonly-held assumptions connected with use of the supplements.…”