The Association between Taking Dietary Supplements and Healthy Habits among Korean Adults: Results from the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (2010-2012).
BACKGROUND
Recently, the number of people interested in health in South Korea has increased, and the rate of dietary supplement use is rising. Researchers have hypothesized that the rate of practicing healthy habits is higher among those who use dietary supplements than those who do not. Therefore, this study aimed to discover the association between taking dietary supplements and practicing various healthy habits in the Korean, adult population.


METHODS
The sample included 15,789 adults over 19 years old who participated in the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The user group was defined as those taking dietary supplements for more than 2 weeks during the previous year or once during the past month. Measures for the seven healthy habits were based on those included in the Alameda study and were analyzed accounting for the complex sampling design.


RESULTS
The rate of taking dietary supplements was significantly higher in women, middle aged participants, urban residents, those with a higher income, those with a higher education level, and nonsmokers as well as among women with a moderate subjective health status, women who limited their alcohol content, and women with dyslipidemia. In the adjusted analysis, the rate of performing three of the 'Alameda 7' habits-eating breakfast regularly, restricting snacking, and limiting drinking-was higher in the female dietary supplement user group than in the other groups. Women practiced more healthy habits and had a higher dietary supplement intake rate than men.


CONCLUSIONS
We found that taking dietary supplements in Korean adults is highly associated with demographic and social factors. Taking dietary supplements had a relationship with dietary habits, and there was no significant association between dietary supplement and other healthy habits. Thus in the health clinic, we suggest that taking dietary supplements complements a patient's healthy habits, with the exception of dietary habits, for health promotion.
Department of Family Medicine, Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
Jin-Wook
JW
Kim
Department of Family Medicine, Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
So-Hye
SH
Lee
Department of Family Medicine, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
Jung-Eun
JE
Kim
Department of Biostatistics, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kyung-Do
KD
Han
Department of Family Medicine, Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
Tae-Eung
TE
Kwack
Department of Family Medicine, Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
Bo-Seon
BS
Kim
Department of Family Medicine, Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
Jeong-Eun
JE
Kim
Department of Family Medicine, Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
Eun-Bae
EB
Jo
Department of Family Medicine, Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
Young-Kyu
YK
Park
Department of Family Medicine, Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
Kyung-Shik
KS
Lee
Dietary Supplements; Health Behavior; Health Promotion