Table 4 Knowledge and awareness of participants regarding dietary supplement use based on body weight status
Knowledge of DS | Underweight (n = 45) | Normal weight (n = 255) | Overweight (n = 153) | Obese (n = 129) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Do you know what are dietary supplements? | n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | Â |
 Yes | 40(88.9) | 219(85.9) | 136(88.9) | 105(81.4) | 0.26 |
 No | 5(11.1) | 36(14.1) | 17(11.1) | 24(18.6) |  |
 I don’t know | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  |
Source of informationa | |||||
 Family and/or friends | 18(40.0) | 105(41.2) | 71(46.4) | 63(48.8) | 0.64 |
 Physicians, healthcare providers | 18(39.1) | 110(41.7) | 71(45.8) | 65(49.2) | 0.44 |
 TV | 7(15.6) | 32(12.5) | 22(14.4) | 19(14.7) | 0.93 |
 Internet and/or social media | 32(71.1) | 175(68.6) | 101(66.0) | 104(80.6) | 0.06 |
 Other | 1(2.2) | 9(3.5) | 5(3.3) | 6(4.7) | 0.86 |
Awareness | |||||
Do you think the use of nutritional supplements is always safe? | |||||
 Yes | 33(73.3) | 207(81.2) | 117(76.5) | 81(62.8) | 0.01 |
 No | 1(2.2) | 9(3.5) | 6(3.9) | 10(7.6) | |
 I don’t know | 11(24.4) | 39(15.3) | 30(19.6) | 38(29.5) | |
Do you think that dietary supplements can prevent or treat chronic diseases? | |||||
 Yes | 16(35.6) | 116(45.5) | 67(43.8) | 45(34.9) | 0.28 |
 No | 16(35.6) | 79(31.0) | 41(26.8) | 47(36.4) | |
 I don’t know | 13(28.9) | 60(23.5) | 45(29.4) | 37(28.7) | |
Do you think that dietary supplements can prevent or treat communicable diseases? | |||||
 Yes | 17(37.8) | 114(44.7) | 66(43.1) | 52(40.3) | 0.52 |
 No | 18(40.0) | 84(32.9) | 45(29.4) | 41(31.8) | |
 I don’t know | 10(22.2) | 57(22.4) | 42(27.5) | 36(27.9) | |
Do you think that the dietary supplements have side effects? | |||||
 Yes | 30(66.7) | 153(60.0) | 76(49.7) | 70(54.3) | 0.14 |
 No | 7(15.6) | 35(13.7) | 26(17.0) | 28(21.7) | |
 I don’t know | 8(17.8) | 67(26.3) | 51(33.3) | 31(24.0) | |