Healthcare: 45% of Romanians have taken vitamins and food supplements frequently in the past year

A percentage of 94% of the Romanians consumed, over the last twelve months, vitamins, minerals and food supplements, out of whom 45% frequently and 49% occasionally, according to a study carried out by IPSOS Digital, for the Romanian Patronage of the Food Supplements (PRISA).According to the same research, the main sources for information used when deciding to take food supplements are: the family doctor or the specialist doctor mentioned by 75% of the interviewees and the pharmacist mentioned by 54% of them. 49% of the participants in the study stated they rely on information read online – news, articles, advertisements, posts from social media and reviews in forums.Out of the Romanians who answered the main source for information is the specialist doctor, 60% said they were recommended vitamins, minerals and food supplements by the General practitioner, 17% by the cardiologists and the same number by the gastroenterologist. 13% received recommendation from the neurologist, 12% from endocrinologist and 11% from diabetologist.According to the IPSOS survey, the doctor and the pharmacist are the most reliable sources of information for the Romanians, together with research and scientific data, the medical journals or clinical studies.Over the last twelve months, the most used supplements were those for immunity (66%) and minerals (66%), followed by vitamins, as well as those in the B –complex or multivitamins (55%) and the third position was covered by supplements with probiotics as well as fish oil/Omega-3, both mentioned by 31% of the interviewees. Over the last year, the users had on average 3.7 types of supplements. The forms of administration preferred by the Romanians are capsules (67%), tablets (66%) and effervescent tablets (46%).The study shows that 84% of the interviewees consider that the vitamins, the minerals and the food supplements contribute to a large extent to a healthy life style. Thus, 56% of the Romanians specified that they consumed these products to support their immunity system, 54% for keeping the general state of health and 43% used for a plus of energy. Other reasons mentioned by the participants to the study were: to support the health of the brain mentioned by 20% of them, 19% took them for the health of the heart (for example, blood pressure, cholesterol) and 18% for digestive health. As regards the method for administration, 41% of the interviewees stated they follow the instructions of the doctor or the pharmacist, 40%read the information on the label/the prospectus and 19% administer them depending on the way they feel, adjusting or stopping administration.Out of the Romanians who answered that they have no or not enough information to choose vitamins, minerals or food supplements adequate to their needs, 63% specified they would need guiding to identify what supplements are necessary, individually, 49% would like to find out which are the selection criteria they should take into account when the want to buy good quality products and 32% want to know how to verify if the supplement is approved for the Romanian market as well how to interpret the label (22%).The survey was made in September and answered 1,000 people from Romania, a sample representative at national level.The Romanian Patronage for Food Supplements Industry (PRISA) set up in 2000 as a first association in the domain of food supplements, so that starting with 2011 it has functioned as a patronage. At present, PRISA has the quality of patronage organization with auto-regulation role on the market for food supplements through the two codes they established and approved: the Code of Ethics and the Code for good practice in labeling and advertising food supplements. The PRISA members are: Alevia, Queisser Pharma, Secom, Stada Romania, Sun Wave Pharma, Republica Bio,Nestle, Zdrovit, Bioeel Manufacturing, Naturpharma Products, Pharma Brands, Pro Teleshop Expert.PRISA is an active partner of the state institutions, as well as a member of the international bodies in the sector: Food Supplements Europe (FSE) and International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Association (IADSA).