Dietary supplementation of high-performance Canadian athletes by age and gender

To determine dietary supplementation practices and opinions, preferred means for dietary supplement (DS) education, and antidoping opinions among elite Canadian athletes varying in age and gender.

A descriptive, cross-sectional survey.

Elite athlete training centers in Calgary, Canada and surrounding area.

A total of 582 high-performance athletes (314 male, 268 female).

High-performance athletes representing 27 sports with a mean age of 19.96+/-3.91 years completed a validated questionnaire assessing DS practices and opinions by recall. Sport categories included varsity, Canadian Sport Centre Calgary (CSCC), and National Sport School (NSS).

There was extensive DS use, with 88.4% of participants taking>or=1 DS (mean of 3.08+/-1.87 DS per user) during the previous 6 months. Overall, sport drinks (22.4%), sport bars (14.0%), multivitamins and minerals (13.5%), protein supplements (9.0%), and vitamin C (6.4%) were most frequently reported. Older athletes were significantly more likely to report greater DS usage; to be advised by teammates, health food store retailers, and magazines; to prefer supplementation education via individual interviews; to claim awareness of anti-doping rules; and to perceive anti-doping compliance. Relative to gender, significant differences were observed for the types of DS reported; supplementation advisors; justifications for DS use; and awareness of anti-doping regulations.

Utilization of this validated and reliable questionnaire has the potential for broad use and provides insight into the factors that influence DS use in elite athletes.