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Longitudinal trends of dietary supplement use by U.S. Army soldiers differ from the U.S. civilian population (245.6)
Author(s) -
Austin Krista,
Price Lori,
McGraw Susan,
Lieberman Harris
Publication year - 2014
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.28.1_supplement.245.6
Subject(s) - multivitamin , medicine , population , demography , demographics , longitudinal study , iron status , gerontology , zoology , environmental health , vitamin , biology , anemia , iron deficiency , pathology , sociology
Longitudinal trends of dietary supplement (DS) use by civilians are well documented; however, similar data in subpopulations, such as the military, are not available. Therefore, this study assessed longitudinal changes in DS use among U.S. Army Soldiers. Use of DS by Soldiers was assessed in 2006‐2007 (n=989) and again in 2010‐2011(n=1196) using the same survey methods. Data were weighted for total Army demographics by age, sex, and rank. Wald tests were used to assess differences in prevalence of DS use. Changes in use of DS were compared to trends reported for the U.S. population. Unlike civilians, DS use by Soldiers increased significantly (53% + 1.6 vs. 62% + 1.6; p = <.001) over the past 3 years. Increases were primarily due to increased use of protein (19% + 1.2 vs. 26% + 1.5; p = <.001) and combination (9% + 1.1 vs. 24% + 1.4; p = <.001) products. As with the U.S. civilian population, multivitamin and mineral use did not significantly increase, but use of individual vitamins and minerals including iron, magnesium, selenium, Vitamins A, B6, B12, and D did increase (p=<.05). Herbal DS use by Soldiers did not increase (8% + 1.0 vs. 8% + 1.0; p =.93) and was less than use among civilians (~20%). Patterns of DS use by Soldiers differ from civilians and Soldiers’ use of some DS is increasing. Grant Funding Source : (Support: US Army Medical Research & Materiel Command and DoD Center Alliance for Dietary Supplement