Intake of Vitamin and Mineral Supplements in an Elderly German Population

Abstract

Aim: To assess the prevalence of vitamin and mineral supplement use in a free-living elderly population and the contribution of these supplements to usual dietary intake. Methods: Analyses are based on data obtained from 388 subjects (≧60 years) participating in the longitudinal study on nutrition and health status in an ageing population in Giessen (GISELA), Germany, in 2002. Nutrient intake from food was assessed by means of a 3-day estimated dietary record. Supplement use was recorded over a period of 3 days using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Nearly half of the study population consumed at least 1 supplement within these 3 days. The use of supplements was more prevalent among women than among men (51.5 vs. 33.9%). On average women consumed 2.03 ± 1.30 products and men 1.65 ± 1.07 products. Magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin E were supplemented most often by men, while women supplemented magnesium, vitamin E and calcium most often. Most of the supplemented nutrients did not distinctly increase the average intake of the respective nutrients from the diet in this population. However, supplement use markedly decreased the proportions of elderly subjects with an intake below the current reference values for certain nutrients, particularly for vitamin E. Conclusion: Results indicate that the intake of supplements is a common behavior in the population under investigation and therefore has to be considered when nutrient intake is evaluated.

Prevalence and characteristics of vitamin or dietary supplement users in Lausanne, Switzerland: the CoLaus study

“…In agreement with the literature (Balluz et al, 2005;Raji et al, 2005;Schwarzpaul et al, 2006;Rock, 2007), VMS use increased with age, particularly in women. Again, this increase might partly be due to the increase in age-related chronic diseases, although other hypotheses such as vitamin B 12 supplementation because of chronic gastritis or decreased absorption cannot be ruled out (Carmel, 1997;Thurman and Mooradian, 1997;Sharkey et al, 2002).…”

“…This prevalence is lower than in the United States (Balluz et al, 2005), Denmark (Knudsen et al, 2002), the United Kingdom (Harrison et al, 2004) or Germany (Beitz et al, 2004;Schwarzpaul et al, 2006) but higher than in Poland (Waskiewicz et al, 2003) or France (Marques-Vidal et al, 2000). On bivariate analysis, participants born in Switzerland consumed VMS or DS more frequently than foreign participants, but this difference became nonsignificant after multivariate adjustment.…”

“…First, a standardized definition of VMS and DS is not available, making prevalence estimates and between-survey comparisons difficult (Brownie and Myers, 2004;Moyers et al, 2007). For instance, some authors separate multivitamin-multimineral formulations (defined as containing three or more vitamins with or without minerals) from other supplements (Rock, 2007), whereas others include all types of VMS (Beitz et al, 2004;Schwarzpaul et al, 2006). The definition of DS also differs between countries (Brownie and Myers, 2004), namely between the United States (Hathcock, 2001) and the European Union (Anonymous, 2002).…”

“…Within the general population, some subgroups are characterized by a higher consumption, namely women (Rock, 2007), the elderly (Balluz et al, 2005;Raji et al, 2005;Schwarzpaul et al, 2006;Rock, 2007), athletes (Ronsen et al 1999;Nieper, 2005) and highly educated subjects (Marques-Vidal et al, 2000;Waskiewicz et al, 2003;Brustad et al, 2004;Rock, 2007), although this latter relationship has been challenged (Rössler et al, 2006). The main motive for VMS or DS use is health promotion or disease prevention (Blendon et al, 2001), although the effects of VMS or DS in randomized trials have been rather disappointing (Fairfield and Stampfer, 2007;Hsia et al, 2007;Huang et al, 2007;Traber, 2007) if not deleterious (Omenn et al, 1996).…”

Effect of Antioxidant Vitamins on the Plasma Homocysteine Level in a Free-Living Elderly Population

“…The nutrient intake was computed as the individual mean values of the 3 days recorded. The intake of vitamin C, vitamin E, and ␤ -carotene supplements was assessed by means of a self-administered questionnaire as is described in detail elsewhere [29] . Subjects reported whether they take these supplements sometimes, regularly, or never.…”