The usage pattern and knowledge of vitamin and mineral supplements in a freshmen college population of Taiwan

Vitamin/mineral supplement use by college freshmen students (476 males, 387 females) was assessed by means of an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. Students from four different fields were involved in this study (152 from the medical school, 191 from the nutrition department, 265 from the natural science department and 255 from other departments). Students majors were not related to supplement use, but were with drinking habits (p=0.004). Use of Supplements (n=332, 38.6% of total) was related to sex and parent education level (p <0.05). Users tended to have highly educated parents and to be female. Multivitamins and single-dose vitamin C were the most frequent choices (53.7% and 59.2% respectively). Health concern/beliefs motivated individuals to use supplements due to their protective or therapeutic benefits. Nutritional knowledge was tested, and average scores were 6.71 ± 1.9 out of 10. Females had better scores than males on two knowledge questions (p <0.05). Majors were related to knowledge level. The nutrition majors group had the best scores and the literature and business group had the worst (p <0.05).