Children's vitamins and minerals intake from dietary supplements in Korea

Abstract

With increasing intake of dietary supplements (DS) including health functional foods (FF) among children and a recent rescission of restrictions in shape/form of FF, children's excessive vitamins/minerals (V/M) intake became a matter of concern in Korea. A nationwide survey was conducted to estimate children's V/M intake from various dietary sources employing 3 representative samples of children for summer & fall of 2008 and spring of 2009 by stratified multistage sampling of 120 survey sites/season based on the 2005 census population. About 30 households from each survey site were screened for residing children of 0–19 years and @ 1,700 households remained as eligible sample per season. Trained dietitians visited households to perform face‐to‐face interview to children regarding DS and OTC V/M products consumption during 1 month prior to interview. Name & type of product, quantity & frequency of use, compliance with recommended dose, etc. were questioned. Out of 5,328 children responded, 19% reported 1 or more DS consumption. Consumption rate was higher in boys (20.1% vs. 17.8%) and youngsters (21.0% compared to 14.3% in adolescents). Although only a minor portion of children showed V/M intake higher than UL, most of them were 0–6 years. Because current maximum levels of V/M in DS were set for adults, using separate doses or directions for children is recommended. Supported by a grant 09082KFDA999 from KFDA in 2008–9.