Question 3
In general, women, older individuals and those with more education and income were more likely to use dietary supplements. When thinking about your experiences with clients, do you agree with this statement? Why would these individuals use supplements more often?
posted by Shanell @ 10:09 AM
31 comments
31 Comments:
For the most part, I do agree with this statement. I think there are certain sections of the population that are more likely to turn to more non-conventional means for disease therapy. I think that women tend to care more about health in general, and are likely slightly more gullible when flipping through the magazine pages, or watching commercials on television, making them more at risk for falling for certain supplements being pushed by the media. The elderly also fall into this category, and with the common presence of so many chronic health conditions, they are at a very high risk for trying several different supplements while searching for the “miracle” pill. With so many health conditions, and relatively small amounts of help in managing symptoms despite the constant contact with doctors, these types of clients also might be more likely to turn to non-health professionals for disease management/prevention. Clients with higher education and income levels are more at risk likely because they know more about health and feel that certain supplements can potentially help them maintain/gain health. This section of the population also likely has more disposable income to spend on supplements.
I have not had experience with clients yet, but I'll speculate...
Women probably use supplements more because they are often more health conscious than men. Women grow up hearing that they need calcium, vitamin D and iron, and then folate when they are pregnant. Commercials for supplemental products tend to be aimed at us. Older individuals are likely increasingly concerned with their health, especially related to arthritis, osteoperosis, colon/breast cancer and heart disease. Education often brings us in contact with evidence/research supporting the use of supplements and increased income (many times related to education) allows individuals to purchase expensive supplements.
I also do not have any personal experiences with clients, yet, but I would agree with the statement. I would think that women are more concerned with their health/diet than men are. Women are more self conscious and more aware of their health and willing to go to almost any extreme to be “perfect.” Those with a higher education and income, might be more willing to spend whatever dollar amount on something to improve their health. They have the money to spend on supplements, so they probably are more interested and do the spend money. Low income and uneducated people don’t know as much about diet and supplements and do not have to money to spend on such a thing. With this being said, I would agree that women, higher educated and higher income people are more likely to use dietary supplements.
Karlie, I like what you said about the women being more gullible because they tend to flip through magazines, see things on TV and are influenced by the media. I think this is a great point, women are always on diets and searching for that miracle pill. I think women are more likely to go to extremes when it comes to their health and body image.
I would say that I do agree with this statement. Women are more health concious than men so I believe that they are buying more supplements. Also, women are guaranteed to be taking prenatal vitamins so that probably influences the statistics. Elderly are usually already taking medications and it seems like they add dietary supplements to the list more often than not. This population probably needs them the most. Lastly, it makes sense that those with higher education will have a higher income and can afford to be spending money on supplements. Those at a lower income will probably opt to buy milk and bread before they spend their money on supplements.
For the most part I would agree with this statement. I don’t have clients per say, but I have sold supplements for quite some time now. In general, women come into the store to buy products to promote their health (excluding wt loss) and a much lower percent of men come in for the same. Those men that do come into the store looking for healthy products tend to be older. Older adults in general tend to be more concerned about their health, thus a greater percent are more likely to purchase supplements that may prevent disease. Although I am unsure of the amount of money all the customers have when purchasing products in the store, I would have to say that customers with less income are just as concerned with their health and just purchase the cheaper items.
Karlie,
I agree with you that the media is a big factor on why women are buying more supplements. There are so many more advertisements geared toward women than men it is to be expected that women would buy more supplements.
I would tend to agree with this statement. Although, I do believe more people are becoming interested and aware of the impact appropriate nutrients can have on health so, supplements may be becoming more popular in other populations as well. I think we are also starting to see an increase in supplement use because our mentality as a society is take a pill to cure a problem. I would classify this pill popping approach as Stage 1 of a healthful attitude. Stage 2 (the more healthful option) would be the actual consumption of the healthful food item to redeem the synergistic activity of the nutrients.
It wouls make sense to me that those who have a higher dispensable income would be the ones more likely to try a variety of supplements. It also would make sense that women would be higher supplement takers. From an early age women are aware of the importance of calcium and vitamin D and are stressed to supplement if adequate amounts are not consumed through diet. For this reason it would make sense that women tend to be more inclined to try supplements with the idea of good health in mind.
Yes, I agree that these individuals would use supplements more often than others. Women are without a doubt generally more concerned with diet and health and usually are the ones targeted in the media, and they will go for the trends in supplements. Older individuals are likely to be faced with an assortment of problems such as osteoporosis, cancer, etc., and so they may turn to supplements to help their conditions improve. Also, a client with more income and more education just means that he/she may have learned something in higher education regarding the supplement, or they have the means to purchase supplements, as they can be pricey. It makes sense to me for sure that these sections of the general population will use supplements most often.
Lauren,
I agree with your comment about other segments of the population becoming more and more interested in supplement use, not just the segments mentioned in this question. Various vitamins and minerals are becoming more popular and targeted in the media, meaning there is a mad dash to the nearest GNC, where anyone can purchase fish oil supplements, for example. I definitely agree that there is a growing number of individuals across education levels, gender, and income levels that are jumping on the dietary supplement bandwagon.
My best guess for why women, older folks, and higher education and income people use dietary supplements would be because they are more health conscious. Women are concerned often with weight issues, the elderly often have medical problems and may believe that a supplement will help alleviate some symptoms or keep them from obtaining another disease or problem. People with higher education and income can afford to buy supplements and are more able to understand studies and make informed decisions about supplement usage.
Katherine McCullah
Ok... I didn't read any of the posts before posing my original comment, but as my comment is very similar to Karlie's, I would have to say that I too agree with her statements.
Katherine McCullah
I have not had much experience with clients thus far but it does make sense that group of individuals are more likely to use dietary supplements. Supplements can be more expensive and more educated people with a higher income can afford these supplements. I also feel the marketing of supplements is geared more toward women and the older population. Susan
Colin,
I was curious to what your thoughts were about supplement purchasing and men because you work for GNC. I thought men would purchase a lot of supplements to help them gain muscle mass, all the protein shakes and whatever else to beef them up. Interesting to hear it is an older male population and if they did not have the money they just buy a cheaper product. Susan
I haven't had experience with clients, but this would make since because women are more gulible like Karlie said and we all want immediate results. Also older adults might feel that supplements could "fix" what they might have done to their bodies earlier in life. And those with more education probably read more and read about studies that have been conducted. The problem comes when people just take supplements and think that they will replace nutritious foods.
Susan,
I totally agree with what you said about marketing toward women. Women are the ones that do most of the shopping for the house. We also tend to be easily persuaded by bold statements like, "Eat all you want and still loose weight!" This is one of my favorite commercial by the way.
Typically, women appear to be more health conscience than men, health products are marketed more towards women. This creates a need and a want to look and feel younger. This would encourage women to purchase products that claim to do so. Stereotypically, men are portrayed as not having to be that concerned with their appearance; as they age, they become more handsome. Women might start to care about their appearance because of wrinkles and sagging skin. Women grow older and realize the pressure or feel the pressure to look a certain way, almost hoping to prevent further wrinkles and have healthier skin. Additionally, aware of the importance of taking care of self might be a reason the increase of nutrition supplements.
Overall, I think this statement is true! I think that many of the groups mentioned are aware of overall health and wellbeing. Also, I think that women and older individuals are more fearful of death, so they believe investing in supplements will prolong life. Generally, the uneducated class many believe in supplements, however since they are so expensive, they are hard to allott money to spend towards "extras" and obviously government assistance will not cover this behavior. Also, especially with women, they get the preconceived idea that a supplement could possible decrease the effects of outer appearance aging, especially with all the claims that supplements make.
It would make sense that women, those with more education and older individuals would be more apt to use a dietary supplement. I think it is safe to say that those with a higher education have better access to health education; they are more likely to watch the news and read health-related sources. Informational sources are always reporting the positive effects of vitamins and minerals, which they recommend to be found in a dietary supplement, rather than from food. Women's health is often more publicized than men's health. Diseases and conditions that mainly afflict women, such as breast cancer, are often linked to diet, and more specifically Vitamins and minerals. Because of this, supplementation to the diet is again recommended. Older individuals often become more aware of their commonly failing health, and are searching for ways to improve or maintain their health. Because older individuals do not eat as varied diet or volume of diet as younger persons, they are encouraged to take a supplement by their doctor or even by peers. Among these population groups, and even beyond them, supplementation is a catch-all, and is often recommended for an individual without examining the individual's specific dietary intake.
I don't have much experience in working with clients using many supplements, however I think in general it is just the more health conscious individuals who take them. I feel like in general those who an education are more health conscious. However, whether they are educated or not, I think that the majority of people taking supplements don't reall understand what they do and aren't aware that they could interact with other meds.
Meredith- I think it’s very interesting that you bring up the fact that women could be taking prenatal vitamins. That’s something that I hadn’t thought of, but it could’ve definitely skewed the evidence from the study if that wasn’t taken into consideration. And, with some of the female clients I have worked with, they were so happy with how their hair looked and nails grew while they were on their prenatal vitamins that they continued to take them long after the babies were born! This is just a prime example of how women associate supplements with positive outcomes, and would be more likely to take some type of a supplement (prenatal or not) at some time in their lives.
This statement seems to fit in with what I have heard in the past and my general assumptions. I have heard that basically those who take supplements are those who don't need it--in other words, those who consume fairly healthy diets (and thus don't need that extra dietary 'crutch') are the ones who are taking a MVI regularly). These individuals are more likely to be concerned/aware of health issues for obvious reasons (more education = more awareness/understanding of importance of good nutrition; women are typically more concerned about health; elderly individuals are more likely seeking medical treatment per increased health issues and thus may take initiative to supplement their diets and/or take these supplements due to doctor recommendations; affluent individuals have more dispensable income)
This statement seems to fit in with what I have heard in the past and my general assumptions. I have heard that basically those who take supplements are those who don't need it--in other words, those who consume fairly healthy diets (and thus don't need that extra dietary 'crutch') are the ones who are taking a MVI regularly). These individuals are more likely to be concerned/aware of health issues for obvious reasons (more education = more awareness/understanding of importance of good nutrition; women are typically more concerned about health; elderly individuals are more likely seeking medical treatment per increased health issues and thus may take initiative to supplement their diets and/or take these supplements due to doctor recommendations; affluent individuals have more dispensable income)
I think it depends on what you are looking at, women tend to take more vitamins in my opinion but men in general seem to be more likely to supplement their diets with protein powders, etc. I think that it makes sense for more affluent people to use supplements simply because they have the dispersible income to afford purchasing them. In general I think older adults experience the more chronic conditions for which they turn to supplements as they are taking a more serious look at their health status as they age and might turn to supplements.
Heather,
I agree with you that women might tend to use supplements more as they are obsessed with staying young and are pressured to turn to means that are non traditional.
I think Vanessa made a very good point that those who are taking a multivitamin are most likely consuming adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals already as part of a well-balanced diet. The trouble is, is that these people most times don't even realize this. This is why we need to push the food, rather than the supplements.
Colin, you offer an interesting perspective on this topic. It was good to gain your feedback as to who comes into GNC. I would offer my guess that as far as the 'elderly' population....do they tend to go more to their neighborhood pharmacies to purchase supplements instead of GNC? Do you see a lot of this population in your store?
Vanessa,
I agree with your statement how those who commonly take supplements are the ones who already eat a fairly healthy diet. That goes along with the fact that those who are health conscious take supplements. But it also shows that people are not aware of whether or not they really need the supplements.
Vanessa,
I completely agree with your views on those who take suppements generally don't need them. The people that are educated enough to pick out supplements to rid certain "problems" they probably have adequate education as far as what a healthy diet is. I have also come across those who are taking probiotics for digestion issues but have no idea what a carbohydrate is. I guess there is always a spectrum of extremes, but I think those who are taking supplements are generally more educated on health.
Lauren
Vanessa~
I think you had a very good point about those taking MVI are already health conscience and eating a pretty balanced diet. This also brings out the idea that they are not completely aware of what a good balance for vitamins and minerals are and potentially could be taking too many supplements to toxic levels. I wonder if this population is seeing side effects from taking too high of dosage from vitamins and minerals.
I think that many people stated that women are probably more guilable to supplements believing they will work to prevent aging effects. Due to this, I agree with many that women would definitely being higher consumer of supplements due to this. Also, I agree that those who are already taking a MVI are probably getting enough nutrients from the diet overall.
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