An Investigation of Habitual Dietary Supplement Use Among 557 NCAA Division I Athletes

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Supplements may expose athletes to dangerous ingredients, banned substances, toxins or contaminants; however, few investigations assess use among collegiate athletes in the U.S.<b>Objective:</b> This cross-sectional study evaluated habitual dietary supplement intake, defined use ≥2 days/week over the past year, in NCAA Division I athletes.<b>Methods:</b> Male and female members of a NCAA Division I team, at two universities in southern California completed a 13-item survey. Among 705 eligible participants, 596 submitted surveys (84.5% response rate), 557 surveys included complete data. Chi-square (χ²) analyses evaluated differences among athletes based on sex, weight status, year in college, and sport-type. Independent t-test or ANOVA evaluated mean differences for continuous variables.<b>Results:</b> A total of 45.2% athletes (n = 252) reported taking supplements (≥2 days/week over the past year). Vitamin/minerals (25.5%, n = 142), protein/amino acids (24.6%, n = 137) were used most frequently. Male, vs female athletes, took more supplements overall (1.2 ± 0.1 vs 0.8 ± 0.1, <i>p</i> = 0.004) and indicated higher use of protein/amino acid products (34.2% vs 13.5%, <i>p</i> < 0.005), whereas, females reported higher use of vitamin/minerals (30.5% vs 21.1%, <i>p</i> < 0.05). Higher supplement use was also reported by athletes with BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m² (vs <30 kg/m², 1.9 ± 0.3 vs 1.0 ± 0.1, <i>p</i> = 0.02), and athletes in ≥ third college year (vs first or second year, 1.2 ± 0.1 vs 0.9 ± 0.1, <i>p</i> = 0.03).<b>Conclusions:</b> Nearly half of NCAA athletes reported habitual supplements use, with significant variation in patterns based on sex, sport-type, year in college, and weight status.