Dietary Supplement Use Pattern of U.S. Adult Population in the 2007–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

Abstract

Data from the 2007–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) suggested that nearly half of U.S. adults aged 20 to 69 reported taking at least one dietary supplement in the past month. Logistic regression showed that the following factors were independently associated with a greater likelihood of supplement use: being female, older, white, having higher level of education, non-SNAP participation, and living in a food-secure household. To compare nutrient intakes between supplement users and non-supplement users, daily intakes of eight nutrients were examined. When considering nutrients from food, supplement users tended to consume greater amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, and iron; meanwhile there was no association between supplement use and daily intakes of vitamin B12 and zinc from food sources only. Including nutrients from daily supplement use, supplement users consumed greater amounts of all eight nutrients.

Keywords:

• dietary supplement
• NHANES
• vitamins and minerals

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank Dr. Martha Morris for her guidance on data analyses. The authors also thank Lena Nguyen and Gogi Grewal for their editorial support and thoughtful insights. Financial support was provided by the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA.