Use of dietary supplements has climbed nationally in recent years, and their potential role in preventing chronic disease receives much attention from practitioners and researchers. New HRSA research says that nearly 60 percent of U.S. women took at least one vitamin or mineral supplement in 2000.
 
“Vitamin-Mineral Supplement Use Among U.S. Women, 2000,” by HRSA epidemiologists Stella Yu and Michael Kogan, and visiting HRSA epidemiologist Zhihuan Huang, was published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association.
 
Research findings suggest that use of the most commonly reported vitamin-mineral supplements is generally associated with women’s leading healthier lifestyles and having greater resources.  For example, findings indicate:

• The highest proportions of supplement users were non-Hispanic, currently married, middle-aged or older, college-educated residents of the West and urban areas, and women who had high incomes.  Former smokers, alcohol users and regular exercisers were also significantly more likely to take supplements. 
• Women who had a usual source of health care and those who had contact with a health professional in the last 12 months had higher levels of use, as did women who had functional limitations associated with chronic conditions.
• Most women took a multivitamin supplement. Approximately one-fifth took vitamins C and E, and about one-quarter took calcium supplements. In general, the use of all supplements increases with age.

 
Researchers analyzed the cancer supplement file of the 2000 National Health Interview Survey, which included 11,888 non-Hispanic white, 2,866 non-Hispanic black, 3,035 Hispanic and 599 non-Hispanic women of other racial backgrounds.