Dietary supplement use among college students

Abstract

Dietary supplement use is common among adults. However, little is known about the supplement intake among college students. The purpose of this project was to describe dietary supplement use among college students enrolled in an introductory nutrition course. Of 355 students enrolled in the course at a large southeastern university, 310 students consented to participate in the survey. 307 surveys were complete and used for analysis. Questions pertaining to supplement use, college major, gender, age, BMI, and exercise habits were asked. Preliminary data showed that the sample consisted of 74% females and 26% males. Analysis of exercise habits showed that 59% reported participation in exercise regularly or frequently, 32% reported participation in exercise occasionally, and 8% reported that they rarely/never exercised. About a third of the students (32%) reported taking a multi‐vitamin/multi‐mineral supplement daily. About 30% reported taking some type of herbal supplement. Garlic, cranberry, ginseng, and guarana were most widely used. With nearly 1/3 of college students in this study reporting that they consume dietary supplements on a regular basis, targeted nutrition education regarding the safety and efficacy of supplement use may be an important addition to college‐level introductory nutrition course curricula.