Dietary supplement use has steadily increased over time since the 1970s; however, no current data exist for the U.S. population. Therefore, the purpo

Dietary supplement use among adults has increased over the past 30 years in the United States,^1,2 and currently about half of adults report using 1 or more dietary supplements.^3,4 Many characteristics of people who choose supplements are known: users tend to be older,^2,3,5 have a lower body mass index (BMI)^5,6 (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), are more physically active,^5,7 are less likely to smoke,^7,8 and have higher educational attainment and socioeconomic status compared with nonusers.^6,9 However, the actual motivations for use, that is, the reasons that people take dietary supplements remain unclear. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) began querying motivations for use of dietary supplements for the first time in 2007. The purpose of this analysis was to examine motivations for use of dietary supplements by adults as well as to characterize the types of products that were used and the most common motivations for using them in the 2007-2010 NHANES.

Our objective in this study was to estimate calcium intakes from food, water, dietary supplements, and antacids for U.S. citizens aged ≥1 y using NHA

Vitamin D is important for bone health; in 2014 it was the fifth most commonly ordered laboratory test among Medicare Part B payments. The aim of this study was to describe vitamin D status in the US population in 2011-2014 and trends from 2003 to 2014. We used serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D data from NHANES 2011-2014 (n = 16,180), and estimated the prevalence at risk of deficiency (<30 nmol/L) or prevalence at risk of inadequacy (30-49 nmol/L) by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and dietary intake of vitamin D. We also present trends between 2003 and 2014. In 2011-2014, the percentage aged ≥1 y at risk of vitamin D deficiency or inadequacy was 5.0% (95% CI: 4.1%, 6.2%) and 18.3% (95% CI: 16.2%, 20.6%). The prevalence of at risk of deficiency was lowest among children aged 1-5 y (0.5%; 95% CI: 0.3%, 1.1%), peaked among adults aged 20-39 y (7.6%; 95% CI: 6.0%, 9.6%), and fell to 2.9% (95% CI: 2.0%, 4.0%) among adults aged ≥60 y; the prevalence of at risk of inadequacy was similar. The prevalence of at risk of deficiency was higher among non-Hispanic black (17.5%; 95% CI: 15.2%, 20.0%) than among non-Hispanic Asian (7.6%; 95% CI: 5.9%, 9.9%), non-Hispanic white (2.1%; 95% CI: 1.5%, 2.7%), and Hispanic (5.9%; 95% CI: 4.4%, 7.8%) persons; the prevalence of at risk of inadequacy was similar. Persons with higher vitamin D dietary intake or who used supplements had lower prevalences of at risk of deficiency or inadequacy. From 2003 to 2014 there was no change in the risk of vitamin D deficiency; the risk of inadequacy declined from 21.0% (95% CI: 17.9%, 24.5%) to 17.7% (95% CI: 16.0%, 19.7%). The prevalence of at risk of vitamin D deficiency in the United States remained stable from 2003 to 2014; at risk of inadequacy declined. Differences in vitamin D status by race and Hispanic origin warrant additional investigation.

Background: The term total folate intake is used to represent folate that occurs naturally in food as well as folic acid from fortified foods and die

Background: Dietary supplements (DSs) have the potential to be both beneficial and harmful to health, especially in adults aged ≥60 y, and therefore