Awareness about Dietary Supplement Consumption among Student Population

Abstract

Aims: Dietary supplements (DS) are widely used to enhance nutritional intake, offering macro/micronutrients, enzymes, and probiotics in various forms such as pills, powders, and beverages. Despite their widespread use, many people have reported using dietary supplements without a doctor's supervision, which raises concerns regarding awareness and safe usage. Therefore, the present study aims to determine the usage of dietary supplements in female university students of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India and to determine the relationship between sociodemographic and dietary awareness. Study Design: Purposive sampling technique with a cross-sectional study design. Methodology: The study included 100 female university students aged 18 to 28 years. A cross-sectional analytical design was used, and participants were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using a self-structured questionnaire with an interview schedule, which gathered information on lifestyle habits, dietary supplement usage, sociodemographic and dietary awareness. Results: In the study population, vitamins were the most popular dietary supplement utilized by 61% of the participants. Only a small percentage of participants understood how to utilize supplements safely, even though the majority believed that the use of DS improved health. The quantity of supplements was significantly correlated with dietary awareness based on place of residence (p=0.032), and there were near-significant correlations between awareness-related adverse effects and educational level (p=0.053) and place of residence (p=0.055). Only one measure was significant (p=0.038), yet nearly half reported perceived benefits, while 7% reported side effects. Conclusion: Dietary supplements were commonly used by female participants, while very few participants were oriented towards the true meaning of DS. Though most participants consider these supplements beneficial, only a few understand how to use them safely and effectively. Therefore, more future researchers are required towards the targeted education to promote informed and responsible supplement use.