Do health professionals use dietary supplements themselves?
Do they recommend dietary supplements to their patients? A survey published in
the Nutrition Journal shows that the answer is a big 'yes' to both.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) show that most
American diet fall short in vitamins A, C, D, and E and minerals such as
calcium, zinc, magnesium and iron.
The American Dietetic Association, now known as the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics, recommend improvement in overall dietary habits but recognize
that dietary supplements can help consumers achieve nutritional goals. For
example, women of childbearing age may require folic acid supplements, or, people
over the age of 50 may require vitamin B12 supplementation. Again, some people
may require vitamin D to build and maintain optimum bone mass and so on.
It has also been reported that usage is higher among:
. older adults than among younger ones
. women than men
. more educated than less educated
Although consumer usage of dietary supplements is well documented, not much
data is available regarding usage among health professionals and whether they
recommend dietary supplements to patients.
To examine the extent of usage and recommendations of dietary supplements by
the dieticians, Annette Dickinson and colleagues conducted an online survey of
300 registered dietitians in America
who practiced in a clinic or have private practice and saw at least one patient
per week at their practice site. They were also asked the reason for using and
recommending dietary supplements.
Here's what the surveyors found:
. 96 percent of the dietitians surveyed who used dietary supplements were women
and 74 percent of them were regular users.
. 72 percent of them dietitians surveyed had at least one other member of the
household who used dietary supplements.
. The top three reasons for taking dietary supplements were:
1. bone health (58 percent),
2. overall health and wellness benefits (53 percent), and
3. to fill nutrient gaps in the diet (42 percent).
. 84 percent of the respondents used multivitamin either regularly or
occasionally; next was calcium with 63 percent. Vitamins C and D were used as
dietary supplements by 43 percent and 47 percent of respondents respectively.
. 97 percent of the dietitians surveyed recommended dietary supplements to
clients.
. The top reasons for recommending dietary supplements were:
1. bone health (70 percent),
2. filling nutrition gaps (67 percent),
3. overall health and wellness benefits (49 percent),
4. lowering cholesterol (46 percent),
5. heart health (46 percent),
6. dietary pattern (vegetarian / vegan) (43 percent)
. 27 percent of the dietitians surveyed recommended dietary supplements for
diabetes or glucose control and 19 percent recommended it for eating disorders.
Interestingly, dietitians themselves didn't use dietary supplements for these
conditions.
. Special diets, pregnancy and sports nutrition were also reasons for
recommending dietary supplements to clients but were not the reasons for
personal use.
. 87 percent of the registered dietitians surveyed said their clients are
'generally comfortable telling me about their dietary supplement usage'. But,
only 23 percent of the respondents believe that their clients 'have a good
understanding of the appropriate daily intake for dietary supplements'.
. 95 percent of respondents were interested in continuing education about
dietary supplements on a variety of topics, especially, interactions of drugs
and dietary supplements, basics about dietary supplements, how to counsel
clients about dietary supplements and even weight management.
The authors concluded that dietitians use dietary supplements themselves and
also recommend dietary supplements to their patients, especially for the
reasons of 'bone health, overall health and wellness and filling nutrient gaps
in the diet'.
Source: Dickinson,
A. et al. Dietitians use and recommend dietary supplements: report of a survey.
Nutrition Journal 2012, 11:14. [http:www.nutritionj.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-11-14.pdf]