FRIDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly one-third of U.S. children aged 18 and younger use dietary supplements, most often multivitamins and minerals, according to a national survey reported in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Mary Frances Picciano, Ph.D., of the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from 10,136 infants, children and teens who provided information on supplement use in the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
According to survey results, 31.8 percent of children use dietary supplements. The rate of supplement use is low in children under 1 year (11.9 percent), rises to its highest in children aged 4 to 8 (48.5 percent), and declines in teens 14 to 18 (25.7 percent). Although supplement use among teens appears to have stayed steady since the 1970s, usage has dropped from 50 percent of children aged 1 to 3 in the 1970s to mid-90s, to 38 percent in this study.
"Dietary supplements provide a consistent daily source of nutrients for nearly one-third of U.S. children, yet individual and national-level estimates of nutrient intake rarely account for them. Dietary Reference Intakes and Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide recommended nutrient intakes and advice on food choices that promote health and reduce the risk of disease. To truly assess the nutrient status and estimate the potential health risks of U.S. children, we must include nutrient intakes from dietary supplements as well as from food," the authors conclude.
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