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Longitudinal and secular trends in dietary supplement use: Nurses¡ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow‐up Study, 1986–2006
Author(s) -
Kim Hyun Ja,
Giovannucci Edward,
Willett Walter C.,
Cho Eunyoung
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.242.2
Subject(s) - medicine , longitudinal study , vitamin , fish oil , fish <actinopterygii> , dietary supplement , environmental health , food science , chemistry , pathology , fishery , biology
Objectives The objective of this study was to describe the longitudinal and secular trend of dietary supplement use over the past 20 years in two large prospective cohorts. Methods Data on use of dietary supplements has been repeatedly collected every 4 years from 1986 to 2006 in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow‐up Study (HPFS). Results In 1986, 74,194 women aged 40–65 years in the NHS and 50,497 men aged 40–75 years in the HPFS responded to a questionnaire about their use of dietary supplements. Prevalence of use of any supplement increased among both women (71.3% to 88.3%) and men (56.4% to 80.7%) from 1986 to 2006. Longitudinal increases in the prevalence of use of vitamin D (2.2 to 32.2% for women and 1.1 to 6.7% for men), folic acid (0.8 to 10.7% for women and 1.1 to 13.8% for men), and fish oil (1.6 to 18.1% for women and 3.3 to 22.2% for men) supplements were observed from 1990 to 2006. However, the use of vitamin A, β‐carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E supplements peaked in 1994 or 1998 then declined steadily. A secular increase in use of multivitamins, vitamin D, folic acid, and fish oil across same age group was noted. Conclusions The use of many types of dietary supplements has increased over time, but the use of antioxidant supplements has continued to decline. The secular increase in the prevalence of use of multivitamins, vitamin D, folic acid, and fish oil supplements across same age group suggests that aging of the population is not the primary reason for the increase. Grant Funding Source : research grant CA87969 and CA55075 from the National Institutes of Health