Patterns of Variation in Botanical Supplement Use among Hispanics and Latinos in the United States

In the United States (US), botanical dietary supplements are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration under the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. The Act defines dietary supplements as “a product (other than tobacco) that is intended to supplement the diet that bears or contains one or more of the following dietary ingredients: an herb or other botanical, a vitamin, a mineral, an amino acid, a dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total daily intake, or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combinations of these ingredients.

Botanical supplements are popular in the US; national surveys estimate that approximately 18% of the US population uses botanical supplements. The literature supports a wide body of prevalence data on botanical supplement use in the general population, but less is known about use patterns in minority populations, including Hispanics/Latinos. Among studies in these populations, prevalence estimates vary widely and the reasons for these large variations are obscure. Read more.................