Supplement (mis)use in adolescents

Abstract

Purpose of review Dietary supplement usage by adolescents has been on the rise in the last decade and is expected to continue to grow, although the evidence of their benefits in healthy individuals remains unclear. This review aims to spread awareness about the poorly regulated supplements and their effects on the health of adolescents to minimize medical hazards. Recent findings In this review, we have attempted to summarize some of the commonly consumed supplements, their alleged benefits, effects and side effects, along with the motivation that drives adolescents into consuming them. Summary The widespread use of dietary supplements among adolescents, in the background of lack of knowledge and medical guidance, predisposes adolescents to significant health risks. Although supplements may be necessary and safely consumed in certain specific situations, most healthy adolescents do not need them. The lack of regulation of supplements encourages contamination and ensures indiscriminate, easy access.

Protein, Creatine, and Dieting Supplements Among Adolescents: Use and Associations With Eating Disorder Risk Factors, Exercise-, and Sports Participation, and Immigrant Status

“…However, there may be several other explanations for infrequent use, such as lack of finances to purchase supplements or the lack of routines making it hard to remember to consume creatine daily. The large proportion of supplement users in the current sample raises further concerns due to potential negative health consequences (Or et al, 2019;Tiwari, 2020), unknown longterm health effects (Pope et al, 2014), high risk of consuming contaminated products (Hoffman et al, 2008;Pope et al, 2014;Walpurgis et al, 2020). and future steroid use (Backhouse et al, 2013;Hurst et al, 2020).…”

“…Sports supplements represent a large group of dietary supplements used by most adult and adolescent high-performance athletes, and they may have an indirect or direct and assumed or documented effect on sports performance (Knapik et al, 2016). Among the most commonly used sports supplements in the general adolescent population are protein, creatine, and dieting supplements, such as fat burners and appetite suppressants (Eisenberg et al, 2012;Tiwari, 2020), and are used to achieve a more muscular and lean appearance (Knapik et al, 2016).…”

“…The long-term health effects of protein and creatine supplements are not well-known (Pope et al, 2014). Even if properly administered use of non-contaminated creatine or protein supplements in experimental studies has not been linked to health risks in adults (Jagim et al, 2018), research suggests that use in a natural setting is related to several negative health outcomes in adolescents (Or et al, 2019;Tiwari, 2020); this is partially related to a high proportion of contaminated products (Walpurgis et al, 2020), leading to severe and unintended health consequences (Hoffman et al, 2008;Pope et al, 2014). In addition, the use of protein and creatine supplements may also act as a gateway to future steroid use (Backhouse et al, 2013;Hurst et al, 2020).…”

Reliability of Self-Administered Questionnaire on Dietary Supplement Consumption in Malaysian Adolescents

“…Specifically, the prevalence of vitamin/mineral supplements (54%) and food supplements (40%) intakes are more pronounced among Malaysian adolescents [ 14 ]. Regional differences suggest that the guidelines set by the international and national regulations play one of the key roles in the widespread consumption of supplements [ 15 ]. For example, countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have relatively loose regimes that may lead to easy market access compared to those of other international alliances or regions including the European Union (EU) and Japan [ 1 , 2 ].…”

Education Interventions to Improve Knowledge, Beliefs, Intentions and Practices with Respect to Dietary Supplements and Doping Substances: A Narrative Review

“…Athletes and physically active individuals represent a major part of dietary supplements users [9], for reasons including but not limited to improving physical performance [10], enhancing the rate of exercise recovery [11], health maintenance and increasing energy [12], and correcting nutritional deficiencies [13]. Dietary supplement usage by adolescents [14] and non-athlete university students [12] has been on the rise as well and is expected to continue to grow.…”