Consumption of Multivitamins and Supplements in Russia

This study is aimed to examine the influence of socio-economic factors on the consumption of dietary supplements and vitamins by the adult Russian population. The analyzed factors were mainly found in foreign scientific literature. Methods: the data for this study were taken from a public health survey conducted by the Levada-Center in 2017. The sample included the population from 16 to 97 years old – 4006 people living in various regions of the country. Results: only 27% of the Russian population reported using dietary supplements and vitamins, what is significantly lower than the corresponding proportion in developed countries. The logit-model built on the entire sample of the population showed that the factors that increase the likelihood of an individual consuming dietary supplements and vitamins include female gender and residence in Moscow/In Saint Petersburg, the presence of income that allows you to buy appliances without difficulties, higher education, regular sports, the fact of smoking cessation, alcohol consumption, the presence of a health insurance, chronic diseases and disabilities. With increasing age and body mass index, individuals are less likely to consume dietary supplements and vitamins. At the same time, those who rate their health well are also less likely to use dietary supplements. When constructing separate models for men and women, it was found that the probability of dietary supplements and vitamins consumption by men is not affected by the fact of former smoking, alcohol consumption and higher education, while for women, body mass index, income level and disability were insignificant. The results obtained in this study are consistent with the conclusions obtained by foreign scientists on samples of the population of other countries.