Habits and beliefs related to food supplements: Results of a survey among Italian students of different education fields and levels

Abstract

The increasing availability of food supplements, aggressive media advertising, and common beliefs that these substances have only positive effects on health and sport performance indicate a need for continuous monitoring of this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to investigate the habits and beliefs related to diet supplementation among medical, health professional, and other university/high school students by means of a cross-sectional anonymous survey online. Among the respondents aware of supplements, 37.4% were taking or had taken them in the past. Food supplement use was more common among university students (in particular, those in health professional graduate courses) than high school students. Individual sport practice, rather than team sport, was associated with higher likelihood of food supplement use. Multivitamins were most commonly used, while weight-loss formulations were the least popular. Strikingly, filling nutrient gaps was statistically not considered the main reason for taking food supplements. Instead, they were used to enhance mental performance or enhance well-being. There was statistical evidence that students not enrolled in health or medical professional studies strongly agreed more often than medical students that taking food supplements prevents illness. These results indicate a striking difference between the evidence-based and personal reasons for food supplement use. Arguably, it calls for an improvement in education about diet supplementation and a change in attitude of health care providers to its implementation.

Health Literacy among People in Cardiac Rehabilitation: Associations with Participation and Health-Related Quality of Life in the Heart Skills Study in Denmark

“…If education is interpreted as a proxy for health literacy, this may indicate that the problem may not have been fully eliminated. Other studies confirm the role of educational attainment in health awareness and beliefs [51,52].…”

Jump and balance test in judo athletes with or without visual impairments

“…Although some pharmacological (Iolascon, Sirico, Ferrante, Gimigliano et Gimigliano, 2010) and non-pharmacological treatment have demonstrated their ability to prevent fractures in this subset of population, we have to carefully assess also lifestyle and nutrition in these subsets of high-risk of falls women. Moreover, previous results demonstrate that subjects enrolled in individual sport, like judo, use less multivitamins than their active counterpart involved in team sports (Sirico et al, 2018) and these could determine deficiency in vitamin D or other vitamin and mineral supplementation, that requires to assess carefully the nutritional status too in these subjects with high-risk of fall.…”

Use of dietary supplements among nursing students in Turkey in the last 12 months and its relation with orthorexia nervosa

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“…In many studies conducted with students studying in health-related departments, the participants report most frequently using vitamin and mineral supplements, as in the present study. 6,13,33 This trend may be due to the fact that vitamin and mineral supplements are easily accessible; they are sold not only in pharmacies but also elsewhere without a prescription. Moreover, they are perceived as natural products that are harmless to health owing to promotion in the media.…”