Prevalence of Supplement Use Among Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Division II Football Players PDF Download

Author: Aaron Rasset
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dietary supplements
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
Introduction: College football players have been using supplements as ergogenic aids for years. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of supplement use among Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), Division II football players. Methods: Subjects were male football players who were members from six of the ten NSIC football teams during spring of 2001. A survey was completed by 295 subjects. Results: Of the 295 that filled out the survey, 224 (75.9%) used some sort of supplements at one time or another. The most common supplement used was creatine 64.7%, followed by protein products 43.1%, and multi-vitamins 40.0%. The most common reason given for supplement use was "To improve athletic performance" 59.1%, followed by "For health reasons in general" 15.7%, and "for weight gain or loss" 13.9%. Of the 224 subjects who used supplements, 76.8% purchased their supplements from a retail store, 28.1% from a teammate or other athlete, and 25% from a friend or family member. Conclusions: The majority of NSIC football players seem to be willing to try a number of different products to gain a competitive edge. Creatine and protein were the most common supplements taken. Alarming was the information gathered by the surveyed student athletes that they use their friends or teammates when looking for advice for which supplements to ingest. Coaches, trainers, and physicians should circulate information and advise athletes about dietary supplements.