ABSTRACT
The dietary supplement industry is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that continues to grow annually. This chapter focuses on the prevalence of dietary supplement use in various population groups including adolescents, adults, competitive athletes and military personnel. It provides some insight into the regulatory and safety aspects of dietary supplement use. A number of investigations have examined the pattern of dietary supplement use in adolescents. These studies, primarily examining American population groups, have reported dietary supplement use in adolescents ranging from 23% to 74%. Supplementation habits of male and female high school students appear to differ. The most thorough survey of dietary supplement use of the American population comes from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The intense training common to competitive athletes frequently pushes the athlete to their physiological limitations. Younger athletes appear to consume dietary supplements at a level slightly lower than that observed in older athletes.
