The Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994 made safety testing of dietary and sports supplement the responsibility of the consumer. Since this time, consumption of all classifications of dietary supplements has steadily increased according to anecdotal and individual surveys (Dodge, Ford, & Perko, 2003; Yu, Ghandour, & Huang, 2000; Metzl, Small, Levine, & Gershal, 2001; Delbeke, Van Eeno, Thuyne, & Desmont, 2003; Bell, Dorsch, McCreary, & Hovey, 2004; Dunn et al, 2001). Recently sports or performance enhancing supplements have become of great interest. Admissions by athletes of sports supplement use (i.e. Mark McGuire's use of Andro) have boosted sales, especially among adolescents (Perko, 1999). Furthermore, adolescents have become the key target for dietary supplement marketing (Cowart, 1992; Friedl et al., 1992; Lightsey & Attaway, 1992; Pearl, 1991). Although research of sports supplement consumption among adolescents has increased recently, little progress has been made in tracking of consumption or regulation. Furthermore, the efficacy of sports supplements is rarely tested or validated prior to sale (Perko, 1999). To date there is no systematic tracking method to determine the rates of sports supplement consumption. Individual surveys of supplement use in special populations, inference of use from supplement sales data, and anecdotal incidence rates of use from national surveys such as NHANES and YRBS provide a glimpse into the rate of sports supplement consumption. Although these methods allow for a ‘snap shot’ of consumption, a systematic tracking system is needed. Systematic tracking would detect trends in use over time. Tracking also would provide data necessary for sales and marketing policy changes and regulation. Finally, systematic tracking would inform testing policy and monitoring systems for use of sports supplements by adolescents. Recommendations for how systematic tracking of sports supplement consumption among adolescents may be accomplished and how this information may be used will be offered.
Learning Objectives
The learner will be able to describe the difficulties caused by lack of systematic tracking of sports supplement use by adolescents.
The learner will be able to describe the advantages of a systematic tracking system of sports supplement use by adolescents
The learner will be able to state recommendations for a tracking system and how it could be used to enhance adolescent health and prevent sports supplement abuse.