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Use of vitamin, mineral, nonvitamin, and nonmineral supplements in the United States: the 1987, 1992, and 2000 National Health Interview Survey results

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Abstract

Objective

To describe trends in use of specific vitamin and mineral (VM) supplements.

Design

The nationally representative National Health Interview Survey queried adult respondents about their use of VM supplements in 1987, 1992, and 2000.

Statistical analysis

Trends in use of VM supplements from 1987 to 2000 were determined using linear contrasts.

Results

The percentage of adults using any VM supplement daily increased from 23.2% (1987) to 23.7% (1992) to 33.9% (2000). This pattern was consistent for both sexes, all race/ethnic groups, and adults aged ≥25 years. The increase in the percentage of daily users of multivitamins, vitamin A, and vitamin E was 10.5, 1.2, and 7.3 percentage points, respectively, from 1987 to 2000. Increases in daily use of vitamin C (3.3 percentage points) and calcium (6.1 percentage points) occurred between 1992 and 2000. All trend analyses were significant at P<.001. In the 2000 National Health Interview Survey personnel queried the use of nonvitamin/nonmineral supplements for the first time. At that time, 6.0% of respondents reported using them daily.

Conclusion

The increasing trend in supplement use over time and the notable use of nonvitamin/nonmineral supplements in 2000 indicates the continued need to monitor the use of all types of dietary supplements for purposes of dietary surveillance and nutrition-related research.

Section snippets

Sample population

NHIS is a nationwide in-person survey of households conducted to obtain health information on the noninstitutionalized, civilian household population of the United States. This survey has been conducted annually since 1957 by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The US Bureau of the Census administers the data collection of NHIS via personal household interviews (17).

Cancer supplement questionnaires

In 1987 and 1992 the NHIS included a supplemental questionnaire, the

Results

A description of the sampling from 1987, 1992, and 2000 NHIS by demographic and lifestyle characteristics are presented in Appendix A (Appendixes are available at www.eatright.org).

Table 1 shows the prevalence of the use of any VM supplement in 1987, 1992, and 2000 by frequency of use intake categories stratified by race/ethnicity and sex. The prevalence of reported use of any VM supplement anytime in the past year did not change significantly between 1987 (51.2%) and 2000 (51.0%). However, the

Discussion

Our results indicated that from 1987 to 1992 to 2000, the trend in daily use of multivitamins, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and calcium supplements by US adults significantly increased. The greatest increase in daily VM supplement use for all supplements occurred between 1992 and 2000. Our results also show that as of 2000, 33.9% of the US adult population (aged 18 to 99 years) consumes a VM supplement daily and that 6.0% report daily use of a NVNM supplement. The use of supplements, both

Conclusions

This research provides the most current national data on VM supplement use. Such data provide a benchmark for other investigators to compare VM supplement use within their own studies to nationally representative data. These data indicate that dietetics professionals, physicians, and other health professionals need to consider the contribution of VM intake to total nutrient intake, especially within specific demographic and lifestyle groups such as females, non-Hispanic whites, and older

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Lisa L. Kahle for programming support.

A. E. Millen is a postdoctoral fellow, K. W. Dodd is a mathematical statistician, and A. F. Subar is a nutritionist with the National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

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    A. E. Millen is a postdoctoral fellow, K. W. Dodd is a mathematical statistician, and A. F. Subar is a nutritionist with the National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

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