Micronutrient supplement use and diet quality in university students

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Public health guidelines emphasize nutrient adequacy through diverse food intake.
• Despite recommendations, dietary supplement consumption is rising globally.
• Understanding supplement use patterns and diet quality is crucial for public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the characteristics of micronutrient supplement users.
• To examine the relationship between diet quality and supplement consumption.
• To inform strategies for reducing unnecessary supplement use.

Main Methods:

• A convenience sample of 1306 first-year food and nutrition students participated.
• Data collected using a Food and Diet Questionnaire (FDQ) and Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ).
• Supplement use defined as consuming any supplement monthly or more; diet quality assessed via Dietary Guideline Index (DGI) score.

Main Results:

• Supplement use prevalence was high (56%), with multivitamins and vitamin C being most popular.
• Higher DGI scores (indicating better diet quality) were significantly associated with increased supplement use (p=0.001).
• Micronutrient supplement users exhibited higher diet quality scores.

Conclusions:

• Micronutrient supplement use was associated with better diet quality in this student population.
• Findings suggest that individuals with healthier diets are more likely to use supplements.
• This highlights a potential for unnecessary supplement consumption among those least likely to need them.