Dietary Supplementation Habits and Perceptions of Supplement Use Among Elite Finnish Athletes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of dietary supplement (DS) use among elite Finnish athletes in 2002 and 2009. In 2009, the authors also wanted to examine the reasons for athletes' DS use, whether athletes feel they have experienced benefits from their supplement use, and whether athletes had had an opportunity to consult dietary specialists. Cross-sectional studies were conducted in 2002 and 2009 among Finnish Olympic athletes. Data were collected using semistructured questionnaires, mainly in national team camps. The study population in 2002 was 446 athletes, and in 2009 it was 372. The number of DS users was high in both study years (81% in 2002 and 73% in 2009). Vitamin D consumption was low in both 2002 and 2009 (0.7% and 2.0%, respectively). An increase was found in consumption of omega-3 fatty acids between study years (11% in 2002 and 19% in 2009; p = .002), and their regular use nearly doubled (8% and 15%, p = .002). For vitamin and mineral users, the main reason for DS use was to prevent nutritional deficiencies, and for nutritional supplement users the main reason was recovery from exercise. Only 27% of all athletes and 30% of DS users had an opportunity to consult dietary specialists in 2009. This survey shows that supplementation rates among elite Finnish athletes are high and there may be over- and underuse of some micronutrient supplements. There is a need for professional nutritional counseling among national elite athletes.

Dietary Supplement Use among a Population of University Students in Italy: Correlations with BMI, Dietary Habits and Sport Activities

“…Both in USA and Europe the consumption is higher in women than in men [9]. The prevalence of supplement consumption increases in specific target subpopulations such as the elderly, those affected by particular diseases, pregnant women and those involved in sports [5,[10][11][12][13]. Several epidemiological studies correlates supplement use with people with higher socioeconomic status, healthier lifestyle habits, higher education level and lower BMI [14][15][16].…”

6 Nutritional Supplements

“…Usually, their practices are guided by family members, friends, Media, teammates and coaches and not by health professionals 3,5,10,15 and, as a result, athletes can use nutritional supplements incorrectly 15 given that they do not seek credible sources.…”

β–alanine: performance effects, usage and side effects

“…General supplement survey studies on adolescent athletes [198,199], university based athletes [196,197,[200][201][202], recreational athletes [203] and elite athletes [189,195,[204][205][206][207][208] have revealed that up to 98% of athletes use supplements, mainly to enhance sports performance. Previous studies have reported that 62 -80% of highperformance athletes under 20 years of age [188,190,209] and 51 -99% of all elite athletes use at least one dietary supplement [187,188,190,192,193,195].…”

“…Whilst college athletes who reported using creatine [214,215] listed their strength and conditioning coach as their primary source of information. It appears most athletes at the college or elite level receive information from either strength and conditioning coaches, available dietitians or sports trainers [196,[199][200][201]208], whilst younger athletes seek advice from their coaches [198,209] and recreational athletes typically source their information from the internet [196,197,202,203].…”

“…The majority of athletes involved in studies have been from state or national sporting institutions [189,190,195,204,208] or schools, colleges and universities [190,196,197,[200][201][202] Australian rules football) could potentially benefit from β-alanine supplementation due to the highly intermittent nature of their sports. However, little is known as to the extent these professional athletes utilise β-alanine, as well as their knowledge of the benefits of its use including the correct dosing strategies, time required to elicit improvements in carnosine levels and the safety of its use are yet to be examined.…”