Sport Dietary Supplements and Physical Activity in Biomedical Students

• Main Authors: Dinko Martinovic, Daria Tokic, Marino Vilovic, Doris Rusic, Josipa Bukic, Josko Bozic
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: sport dietary supplements; biomedical students; physical activity
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/2046
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601

Biomedical students should have suitable knowledge about sport dietary supplements (SDS) usage as they are future medical professionals who will have SDS users in their care. The aim of this study was to assess the habits, opinions, and knowledge about SDS usage, along with the level of physical activity, in 386 biomedical students at the University of Split School of Medicine. A specialized questionnaire was developed by a group of experts for the assessment of habits, opinions, and knowledge about SDS and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form (IPAQ-SF) was used to evaluate the level of physical activity. The results showed that 49.2% of students used SDS and there was a significant positive correlation between the knowledge questionnaire score and the level of physical activity (r = 0.744, <i>p </i>< 0.001). Moreover, SDS users had a higher knowledge questionnaire score (<i>p </i>< 0.001) and a higher level of physical activity (<i>p </i>< 0.001) compared to non-users. These results suggest that more physically active students are better informed about SDS, but these results also imply that SDS should be implemented in the study program of future medical professionals to ensure that they are informed for their own personal consumption and will be confident in giving advice about SDS usage to their future patients.