Prevalence of Nutraceutical Use in Younger Population of North India and the Association Between Gender and Community in Its Usage – Cross-Sectional Study

Divya Saran; Alka Bansal; Ashish Agrawal; Lokendra  Sharma; Smita Jain; Punam Jakhar

doi:10.5937/scriptamed54-42072

Divya Saran post graduate student https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5506-2856
Alka Bansal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0289-5640
Ashish Agrawal https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4201-8818
Lokendra Sharma
Smita Jain https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6853-4963
Punam Jakhar https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5050-8473

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5937/scriptamed54-42072

Keywords: Nutraceuticals, Dietary food, Dietary supplements, Survey, Urban/rural area, Younger population

Abstract

Background/Aim: Nutraceuticals or dietary supplements have been recognised as a fundamental part of the holistic approach to achieve complete wellness and health. Their usage is continuously increasing due to lifestyle and sport-style requirements. The present study was designed to estimate the use of nutraceuticals in the younger population and find the association between gender and community in their usage.

Methods: An observational cross-sectional survey was carried out on the younger population of North India between the ages of 15 and 30 years over a period of two weeks in October 2022, following ethical approval. The data regarding the demographic profile and nutraceutical use among participants was collected per predesigned and pre-validated questionnaire. The collected data was analysed to determine the outcomes.

Results: The study included 575 participants, with 272 males and 303 females. Out of them, 321 were from the urban background. It was found in the study that a total of 275 (47.82 %) study subjects were using nutraceuticals, with 163 (59.27 %) and 112 (40.73 %) from the urban and rural dwellings, respectively. Among the users, 122 (44.36 %) were men and 153 (55.64 %) were women. Thus, overall, 153 (50.49 %) of females and 122 (44.85 %) of males in survey were consuming dietary supplements. The study further added that 189 (68.72 %) users believed that nutraceuticals improved their health, two-thirds of participants were using nutraceuticals for lifestyle reasons and 239 (86.90 %) of consumers were using single nutraceuticals. There was no association between gender and community in nutraceuticals usage (Chi-square test, p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Almost half of the younger population was using nutraceuticals and there was no association between gender and community while using them.

References

1. AlAli M, Alqubaisy M, Aljaafari MN, AlAli AO, Baqais L, Molouki A, et al. Nutraceuticals: transformation of conventional foods into health promoters/disease preventers and safety considerations. Molecules 2021 Apr 27;26(9):2540. doi: 10.3390/molecules26092540.

2. Das L, Bhaumik E, Raychaudhuri U, Chakraborty R. Role of nutraceuticals in human health. J Food Sci Technol 2012 Apr;49(2):173-83.

3. Bhowmik D, Gopinath H, Kumar BP, Duraivel S, Kumar KS. Nutraceutical-a bright scope and opportunity of Indian healthcare market. The Pharma Innovation 2013;1(11, Part A):29-41.

4. Mathur S, Hoskins C. Drug development: Lessons from nature. Biomedical reports 2017 Jun 1;6(6):612-4.

5. Poongothai S, Unnikrishnan R, Balasubramanian J, Nair MD, Mohan V. Why are clinical trials necessary in India? Perspect Clin Res 2014 Apr;5(2):55-9.

6. Nasri H, Baradaran A, Shirzad H, Rafieian‑Kopaei M. New concepts in nutraceuticals as alternative for pharmaceuticals. Int J Prev Med 2014;5:1487-99.

7. Gupta C, Prakash D. Nutraceuticals for geriatrics. J Tradit Complement Med 2015 Jan 1;5(1):5-14.

8. Mali S, Rathod S, Kale N, Shinde N. Overview of Nutraceuticals. AJPRes 2022;12(1):61-70.

9. Gosavi S, Subramanian M, Reddy R, Shet BL. A study of prescription pattern of nutraceuticals, knowledge of the patients and cost in a tertiary care hospital. Clin Diagn Res 2016 Apr;10(4):FC01-4.

10. Putta S, Yarla NS, Lakkappa DB, Imandi SB, Malla RR, Chaitanya AK, et al. Probiotics: supplements, food, pharmaceutical industry. In: Grumezescu AT, Holban AM, editors. Therapeutic, probiotic, and unconventional foods. UK, London: Academic Press; 2018. pp. 15-25.

11. Nutraceuticals product market by name. [Internet]. [Cited: 28-Dec-2022]. Available at: https://www.precedenceresearch.com/nutraceuticalsmarket.>

12. Chauhan B, Kumar G, Kalam N, Ansari SH. Current concepts and prospects of herbal nutraceutical: A review. J Adv Pharm Technol Res 2013 Jan;4(1):4-8.

13. Naqvi AA, Ahmad R, Elewi AA, AlAwa AH, Alasiri MJ. Dietary supplement use among undergraduate male students in health and non-health cluster colleges of a public-sector university in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. BMC Complement Altern Med 2018 Oct 1;18(1):269. doi: 10.1186/s12906-018-2332-4.

14. Anjali VG, Dhiman A, Dutt R, Ranga S. Health benefits of nutraceuticals. Pharma Innov J 2018;7(3):178-81.

15. Singh J, Sinha S. Classification, regulatory acts and applications of nutraceuticals for health. IJPBS 2012;2(1):177-87.

16. Shade MY, Witry M, Robinson K, Kupzyk K. Analysis of oral dietary supplement use in rural older adults. J Clin Nurs 2019 May; 28(9-10):1600-6.

17. Piórecka B, Koczur K, Cichocki R, Jagielski P, Kawalec P. Socio-economic factors influencing the use of dietary supplements by school children from Małopolska voivodship (southern Poland). Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022 Jun 26;19(13):7826. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19137826.

18. Svendsen K, Torheim LE, Fjelberg V, Sorprud A, Narverud I, Retterstøl K, et al. Gender differences in nutrition literacy levels among university students and employees: a descriptive study. J Nutr Sci 2021 Jul 30;10:e56. doi: 10.1017/jns.2021.47.

19. Aguilar-Navarro M, Baltazar-Martins G, Brito de Souza D, Muñoz-Guerra J, del Mar Plata M, Del Coso J. Gender differences in prevalence and patterns of dietary supplement use in elite athletes. Res Q Exerc Sport 2021 Dec;92(4):659-68.

20. Islam MA, Al-Karasneh AF, Rizvi M, Nisa ZU, Albakheet AM, Alshagawi MA, et al. Prevalence, reasons and determinants of dietary supplements use among undergraduate female students of health and non-health colleges in a Saudi public university. PLoS One 2021 Mar 3;16(3):e0247295. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247295.

21. Tarn DM, Karlamangla A, Coulter ID, Paterniti DA, Knox L, Khang PS, et al. A cross-sectional study of provider and patient characteristics associated with outpatient disclosures of dietary supplement use. Patient Educ Couns 2015 Jul 1;98(7):830-6.

22. Nabdi S, Boujraf S, Benzagmout M. Evaluation of rural-urban patterns in dietary intake: A descriptive analytical study–Case series. Ann Med Surg (Lond) 2022 Nov 17;84:104972. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104972.

23. Bolin JN, Bellamy GR, Ferdinand AO, Vuong AM, Kash BA, Schulze A, et al. Rural healthy people 2020: new decade, same challenges. J Rural Health 2015 Summer;31(3):326-33.

24. Puri V, Nagpal M, Singh I, Singh M, Dhingra GA, Huanbutta K, et al. A comprehensive review on nutraceuticals: therapy support and formulation challenges. Nutrients 2022 Nov 3;14(21):4637. doi: 10.3390/nu14214637.