Description of Collaborative Activity: |
The National Institutes of Health's, Office of Dietary Supplement has funded the collection of the usage of dietary supplements and selected nutritional biomarkers in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) study since 1999. NHANES is a major program of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) - part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The prevalence of dietary supplement use in the US is high and increases with age. Data from the NHANES 2017-March 2020 survey indicate that 58.5% of adults aged 20 years and older and 34.8% children aged 0-19 years take at least one dietary supplement. Dietary supplements can and many do contain 100% or more of the daily recommended amounts for nutrients, vitamins and or minerals and therefore, and with such a high percentage of the US population taking them, it's critical that they be collected when assessing dietary intake. If they are not included, dietary intake of nutrients can be underestimated for individuals and on the national level, this can lead to overestimating nutrient deficiencies in the U.S. or underestimating nutrient excesses. NHANES also collects biospecimens which allows for the measurement of biomarkers. The Office of Dietary Supplements has provided funding for several biomarkers over the years and most recently biomarkers for folate status, iodine status and magnesium. Most data from the NHANES survey is released publicly on their website. |
