Abstract

Nowadays the great offer of dietary supplements (DS) in the market has led to a situation in which the use of these products are not only acquired by sportspersons but also to a great population related with physical activity. The main objective of our study was to know the characteristics of the DS consumers and to evaluate its consumption through a survey previously validated and applied to 314 users (198 males and 116 females) from 6 gyms in Viña del Mar. The results showed that more than half of the subjects consumed DS products (54.5%). Within male consumers, a 69.4% use these products in order to increase muscular mass, while within women, a 62.2% consumed them in order to diminish their body fat. There were 5 kinds of DS products consumed the most: Proteins (55.6%), amino acids (25.9%), vitamins and minerals (25.1%), food substitutes (6.4%), caffeine (6.4%), and L-carnitine (6.4%). The consumer profile is represented by young male individuals, those who follow a special diet, with long practice in gym and who exercise several days a week. Much of consumers did not provide an adequate association between DSN used and the purpose of consuming these supplements