The Effects of Consuming Dietary Supplement at Young Age Among Students in Shah Alam

Abstract

There has been a rising trend of dietary supplements intake among Malaysians over the last decade. Furthermore, dietary supplements use is relatively widespread in some countries. However, knowledge of dietary supplements consumption in Malaysia is still limited, especially among students. This study is aimed to investigate the health concern, addiction and social influence of consuming dietary supplement among students in Shah Alam. A questionnaire survey is utilised in collecting the data from 150 students and a descriptive approach is used in analysing them. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software is used to analyse the data, and the results are documented. Most of the students (71.3%) agree on the importance of consuming dietary supplements. They also believe that consuming dietary supplements can effectively increase immunity. However, consuming various dietary supplements can harm the body in which 90.6% of the students are aware of the consequence. The findings also indicate that consuming dietary supplement among the students is influenced by the concern of their health, addiction and social influence such as family and social media. The findings of this study can be useful for developing health communications and awareness on supplement use, which are targeted to young age and their parents.