2006年12月4日费城——《美国饮食协会杂志》12月发表的一项研究显示，每天补充复合维生素的青少年与不服用者相比，其饮食和生活方式更健康。
明尼苏达大学公共健康学院的Lindsay Reavers等人对2500名美国高年级学生的身高、体重、饮食以及健康行为资料进行了分析，旨在揭示服用维生素制剂的青少年是否在饮食、运动和其他健康习惯方面存在不同。
结果发现，25%的青少年每天服用复合维生素制剂，女性多于男性，白人多于其他肤色人群。
服用维生素与生活方式的差异有关，服用维生素者生活方式更健康：服用维生素的青少年吸烟率较低（29%对33%），体重超重者较少（31%对37）。服用维生素的青少年更热衷于体育活动，包括更多地参与集体性和组织性活动。他们看电视的比率也较低：每天观看1小时电视节目的人，在服用维生素的青少年中不到60%，而在不服用维生素的青少年中占到70%。对其它因素做统计调整后，该差异仍具有显著性。
服用维生素还与健康饮食有关，后者主要体现在总体“食品指数评分”。服用维生素制剂的青少年摄入热量较多，但热量多来源于碳水化合物和蛋白质，较少来自脂肪。他们每天摄入较多的纤维、全谷类食品、水果和果汁、蔬菜，以及更多的鱼类。虽然他们食用甜点较多，但很少食用油炸类食品和软饮料。
美国饮食协会推荐，食物多样是保持健康和降低慢性病风险的最佳策略。成人、青少年定期补充维生素和矿物质对健康有益。
研究人员总结说：“服用复合维生素的青少年具有更健康的饮食和生活习惯，然而，营养补充剂不能替代健康饮食，应该鼓励青少年食用健康食品，而不是依赖服用添加剂以获取足够的营养。”
Teens Who Take Multivitamins Have Healthier Lifestyles
Philadelphia, December 4, 2006 – Teenagers who take a daily multivitamin supplement have a healthier diet and lifestyle than those who don't take vitamins, reports a study in the December Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
As part of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH), the researchers analyzed data on height, weight, diet, and health behaviors for more than 2,500 U.S. high school seniors. Their goal was to discover whether teens who took vitamin supplements differed in terms of diet, exercise, and other health habits. The lead author was Lindsay Reaves of University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
Twenty-five percent of the teens reported taking a daily multivitamin supplement. Females were more likely to take vitamins than males, and whites more likely than minority members.
Vitamin use was related to some important differences in lifestyle behaviors, with vitamin users having healthier lifestyles. Adolescents who took vitamins had a lower rate of smoking, 29 vs 33 percent; and were less likely to be overweight, 31 vs 37 percent.
Teens who took vitamins were also more physically active, including higher rates of participation in team sports and other organized sports. Vitamin use was also linked to a lower rate of television watching—less than 60 percent of vitamin users watched an hour of TV per day, compared with 70 percent of nonusers. The differences remained significant after statistical adjustment for other factors.
Taking vitamins was also associated with a healthier diet, as reflected by an overall "food index score." Adolescents who took vitamins actually consumed more calories, but got more of their calories from carbohydrates and protein and less from fats. Vitamin users ate more fiber; had more daily servings of whole grains, fruits and juices, and vegetables; and ate more fish. Although teens who took vitamins, had more desserts, they ate fewer fried foods and drank fewer soft drinks.
The American Dietetic Association recommends a diet including a wide variety of foods as the best strategy for optimal health and lower risk of chronic disease. Like adults, many adolescents take regular vitamin and mineral supplements. The new study is one of the first to look at the relationship between vitamin supplement use among teens and diet and lifestyle factors such as physical activity and overweight.
"Adolescents who use multiple vitamin supplements have healthier dietary and lifestyle behaviors than non-users," the researchers write. They remind dietitians to ask teens about vitamin use—what types of supplements they take, how often, and why. Teens with a healthier diet are more likely to take vitamins, and thus are probably at lower risk of having poor nutritional status.
However, "Supplements are not substitutes for healthy dietary patterns," the researchers conclude. "[A]dolescents should be encouraged to adopt such healthy patterns, rather than rely on dietary supplementation for adequate nutrient intake."
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authored_newsitem.cws_home/companynews05_00573
编辑：蓝色幻想
