Dietary supplement use in Korean children and adolescents, KNHANES 2015-2017

To date, there have been few studies on dietary supplement (DS) use in Korean children and adolescents, using nationally representative data. This study aimed to investigate the current status of DS use and its related factors, among Korean children and adolescents from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data.

A cross-sectional study.

Data from the KNHANES 2015-2017. Participants completed 24-h dietary recall interviews, including DS products that the subjects consumed.

The study population was 4380 children and adolescents aged 1-18 years.

Approximately 20.3 % of children and adolescents were using DS; the highest use was among children aged 1–3 years old, and the lowest use was among adolescents aged 16–18 years. The most frequently used DS was prebiotics/probiotics, followed by multivitamin/mineral supplements. Factors that were associated with DS use were lower birth weight in children aged <4 years; younger age, higher household income, regular breakfast intake and lower BMI in children aged 4-9 years; and regular breakfast intake and use of nutrition facts label in adolescents aged 10-18 years. Feeding patterns in infancy and having chronic diseases were not associated with DS use.

We report that over 20 % of children and adolescents use DS. Nutritional education for parents and children about proper DS consumption is needed.