The Prevalence and Awareness Concerning Dietary Supplement Use among Saudi Adolescents

Hanan Alfawaz, Nasiruddin Khan, Alwateen Almarshad, Kaiser Wani, Muneerah A. Aljumah, Malak Nawaz Khan Khattak and Nasser M. Al-Daghri
Additional contact information
Hanan Alfawaz: College of Food Science & Agriculture, Department of Food Science & Nutrition, King Saud University, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Nasiruddin Khan: College of Applied and Health Sciences, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, A’ Sharqiyah University, Ibra 400, Oman
Alwateen Almarshad: College of Food Science & Agriculture, Department of Food Science & Nutrition, King Saud University, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Kaiser Wani: Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Muneerah A. Aljumah: College of Medicine Medical Student, Almaarefa University, Riyadh 11597, Saudi Arabia
Malak Nawaz Khan Khattak: Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Nasser M. Al-Daghri: Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Current dietary supplement (DS) use among Saudi school students is not well described. In this study, we aim to investigate the prevalence and predictors of DS use among adolescents. This cross-sectional study collected data via self-administered questionnaire from 1221 students (12 to 18 years). The overall prevalence of DS use was 26.2%, significantly higher in females than males (33% vs. 17.9%, p < 0.001). High proportion of female DS users demonstrated normal BMI than males (84% vs. 56.5%, p < 0.001). High percentage of male DS users were engaged in vigorous and/or high physical activity (PA) levels than female DS users (58.2% vs. 43%, p = 0.022; and 57.1% vs. 20.7%, p < 0.001, respectively). The main reasons for DS use among females were vitamin deficiency (63.3%), hair condition (37.6%) and nail health (23.5%) while in males, the main reasons were vitamin deficiency (58.4%) and body building (34.4%). The predictors of DS use in Saudi adolescents included being female, having high family income and being physically active. In conclusion, the overall prevalence and preference of DS use, though low among Saudi adolescents, was driven mostly by gender, physical activity levels and socioeconomic factors like family income. DS use guidelines and counselling among Saudi adolescents are warranted to improve public health.

Keywords: dietary supplements; school student; adolescents; physical activity; awareness; Saudi Arabia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/10/3515/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/10/3515/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:10:p:3515-:d:359482

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().