| Abstract [eng] |
Supply and Consumption of Cardiovascular Food Supplements in Lithuania The aim - to evaluate supply and consumption of cardiovascular food supplements in Lithuania. Work tasks: • To collect information on food supplements for heart health. • To rate the range of food supplements for heart health sold in Lithuania. • To analyze the consumption of food supplements for heart health. Research data were collected through questionnaire data collection method based on January-February, 2017 data. 401 adult residents of the Republic of Lithuania were interviewed. SPSS 17.0 program was used for the analysis of the consumption of food supplements for heart health. There is a variety of materials and their combinations used in making food supplements for heart health: vitamins, minerals, and materials of plant, animal and fungal-derived origins. Not all substances that are present in food supplements are based on performance tests. Food supplements are sold in pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations and online stores in Lithuania. 91 preparations were summarized as food supplements for heart health sold in Lithuania. Almost two thirds of respondents evaluated the supply of supplements as rich or sufficient. Currently, the food supplements are generally consumed by a quarter of men and a half of women in total. 60 percent of consumers felt the positive effects of using the food supplements. The food supplements for heart health were consumed by one-fifth of men and nearly one-third of women currently and in the previous years. Almost one-third of people at the age over 50 and only a tenth of the younger respondents consume cardiovascular food supplements. Men are tending to be less concerned about their diet and health condition than women. Two-thirds of respondents are purchasing the food supplements in pharmacies and 12 percent of respondents are buying supplements in online pharmacies and stores. About 4 percent of respondents are purchasing potentially unsafe supplements from distributors or at the market. Half of the respondents complained about the high price of the food supplements. More than half of the respondents believe of having enough information on food supplements. Almost half of the respondents are selecting the food supplements themselves and only 4 per cents evaluated advertising influence. One third of the consumers of food supplements are asking for doctor’s or pharmacist’s advice. |
