title: The use of nutritional supplements among male collegiate athletes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The consumption of nutritional supplements is high in various sports, whereas, there are not enough documents supporting the beneficial effects of supplements in athletes. In addition, there is no information about taking supplements by Iranian students who participate in sports. Therefore, the goals of this study were to assess the type and prevalence of supplement use, the frequency of use, and relationships between consumption and age, body mass index, training load and type of sport.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred ninety two male students from "Isfahan University of Medical Sciences" participated in this study, voluntarily. A questionnaire that included questions about type and effects of supplements, recommendation resources, place of obtaining, and type of sports were sent to students. Descriptive data were calculated as frequencies (%). Chi-square (χ2) analysis was used to analyze the correlation between supplement use and the study variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-five percent of respondents used some forms of supplements. Supplement users consumed 14 different supplements and each used as many as 1.8 ± 1.2 various supplements during the past six months. Multivitamins (64%) and vitamin C (42%) were the most popular supplements. Students, who participated in individual sports, were more likely to consume dietary supplements (P < 0.05) and ergogenic aids (P < 0.01), but team sports athletes, took more recovery nutrients (P < 0.01). Fifty seven point five percent of student bought their products from pharmacies, 40% from "sport supplements stores" and 2.5% from their friends.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It can be concluded that less than half of these students consumed supplements and their information resources were inappropriate.
authors.affiliation: Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran ; Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University Of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Darvishi
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Askari
authors.forename: Mitra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hariri
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bahreynian
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghiasvand
authors.forename: Simin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ehsani
authors.forename: Nafiseh Shokri
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Mashhadi
authors.forename: Parva
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rezai
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Khorvash
keywords: Nutritional supplementation; sport; students