The Attitude of Kaunas City Sport club visitors to the use of food supplements

Aim of the study. To identify and to evaluate prevalence of food supplements among sport club visitors in Kaunas City. Objectives. To review nutrition peculiarities of sport club visitors; to identify and to evaluate views of sport club visitors to food supplement consumption; and to compare views sport club visitors to supplement consumption views of 3rd and 4th year Kaunas Medical University (KMU) students. Methods. An analysis of scientific literature and an anonymous questionnaire survey encompassing 300 Kaunas City sport club visitors were performed. The SSPS software package and MS Excel application were used for the statistical data analysis. Results. The investigation has shown that almost two thirds of respondents are sure that food supplements are beneficial for their organism and a large part of them use various food supplements in order to improve their immunity, to gain more energy and to recover more quickly after their training sessions. Men often use food supplements to increase their muscle mass, while women are more inclined to use food supplements to reduce their body mass and to improve general state of organism. It has been noticed that sport club visitors trust their trainers’ knowledge about food supplements and also gather such information individually; however, they are not inclined to consult a doctor when they chose food supplements. Most of these who were using food supplements felt their positive impact on their organisms. Conclusions. Results of the investigation enable stating that sport club visitors are inclined to enrich their inadequate nutrition with food supplements and have quite deep knowledge about the use, impact and benefits of food supplements. Practical recommendations. It is recommended to provide more publicly available information (e.g., on Internet) about well-balanced nutrition and its importance as well as about the use of food supplements and their impact on organism and to encourage potential food supplement consumers to consult with a doctor regarding their use, in order to avoid possible negative consequences