A questionnaire survey was performed on college athletes (n2=255) and students of the faculty of pharmaceutical sciences (n=346) to clarify the relationship between dietary supplements and eating behavior and attitudes. The athletes had better dietary behavior and attitudes than the students. The ratio of supplement users among the male athletes was significantly higher than that among the male students. The supply of nutrients and keeping fit and healthy were common frequent purposes of supplement use by both groups. Fatigue recovery and muscular development were also frequent purposes by the athletes. The most frequently used supplements were protein, iron and amino acids by the athletes, and multivitamins, vitamin B and vitamin C by the students.
Among the male athletes, most supplement users did not have the habit of eating instant foods and snacks, and would eat even disliked foods for nutritional balance, in comparison with the non-users. Among the male students, although most supplement users understood about their poor nutritional intake, they preferred to take tablets instead of having more nutritious foods and thought of their diet only as a way of filling the stomach, in comparison with the supplement non-users.
These results suggest a different relationship between dietary supplement use and eating behavior and attitudes between male athletes and male students.
