title: Usage of Plant Food Supplements (PFS) for weight control in six European countries: results from the PlantLIBRA PFS Consumer Survey 2011-2012.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity is increasing worldwide and weight-control strategies, including the consumption of plant food supplements (PFS), are proliferating. This article identifies the herbal ingredients in PFS consumed for weight control and by overweight/obese dieters in six European countries, and explores the relationship between their consumption and their self-reported BMI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data used were a subset from the PlantLIBRA PFS Consumer Survey 2011-2012, a retrospective survey of 2359 PFS consumers. The survey used a bespoke frequency-of-PFS-usage questionnaire. Analyses were performed in two consumer subsamples of 1) respondents taking the products for "body weight reasons", and 2) "dieters for overweight/obesity", to identify the herbal ingredients consumed for these reasons. The relationship between the 5 most consumed herbal ingredients and self-reported BMI in groups 1 and 2 is explored by comparing BMI proportions of consumers vs. non-consumers (using Chi-squared test).
  
  
  RESULTS
  252 PFS (8.8 %) were consumed for "body weight reasons" (by 240 PFS consumers); 112 PFS consumers (4.8 %) were "dieting for overweight/obesity". Spain is the country where consuming herbal ingredients for body weight control and dieting were most popular. Artichoke was the most consumed herbal ingredient. Considering only the 5 top products consumed by those who responded "body weight", when using the total survey sample, a greater proportion of BMI ≥ 25 was observed among consumers of PFS containing artichoke and green tea as compared to non-consumers (58.4 % vs. 49.1 % and 63.2 % vs. 49.7 % respectively). Considering only the 5 top products consumed by "dieters" and using only the "dieters" sample, a lower proportion of BMI ≥ 25 was observed among pineapple-containing PFS consumers (38.5 % vs. 81.5 %); however, when using the entire survey sample, a greater proportion of BMI ≥ 25 was observed among artichoke-containing PFS consumers (58.4 % vs. 49.1 %).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A comparison of results among the scarce publications evaluating the use of weight-loss supplements at the population level is limited. Nevertheless every hint is important in finding out which are the self-treatment strategies used by overweight/obese individuals in European countries. Although limited by a small sample size, our study represents a first attempt at analysing such data in six EU countries. Our findings should encourage the conduction of further studies on this topic, long-term and large sample-sized studies, ideally conducted in the general population.
authors.affiliation: Fundación para la Investigación Nutricional, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Baldiri i Reixac, 4-8, Barcelona, 08028, Spain.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garcia-Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Fundación para la Investigación Nutricional, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Baldiri i Reixac, 4-8, Barcelona, 08028, Spain.
authors.forename: Raimon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mila-Villarroel
authors.affiliation: Fundación para la Investigación Nutricional, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Baldiri i Reixac, 4-8, Barcelona, 08028, Spain.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ribas-Barba
authors.affiliation: Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK.
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Egan
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental, Prophylactic and Clinic Specialties, Faculty of Medicine, Transilvania University of Brasov, Bdul Eroilor Nr 29, Brasov, 500039, Romania.
authors.forename: Mihaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Badea
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Balzaretti 9, Milano, 20133, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.affiliation: Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira, Mustialankatu 3, Helsinki, 00790, Finland.
authors.forename: Maija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salmenhaara
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Balzaretti 9, Milano, 20133, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Restani
authors.affiliation: Fundación para la Investigación Nutricional, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Baldiri i Reixac, 4-8, Barcelona, 08028, Spain. lluis.serra@ulpgc.es.|Ciber Obn Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, Pabellón 11, Planta 0, Madrid, 28029, Spain. lluis.serra@ulpgc.es.|Institute of Biomedical and Health Research of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus Universitario de San Cristobal, Paseo de Blas Cabrera Felipe, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35016, Spain. lluis.serra@ulpgc.es.
authors.forename: Lluis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Serra-Majem
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D028321:Plant Preparations
keywords: Body mass index; European; Plant food supplements; PlantLIBRA survey; Weight control