Characteristics of male vitamin supplement users aged 50-59 years in France and Northern Ireland: the prime study

The prevalence and characteristics of vitamin supplement users were assesse d in 7538 male subjects aged 50-59 from France and 2468 from Northern Irela nd. in France, 15% of subjects used vitamin supplements; users were significant ly younger, had a lower body mass index, a higher educational level, had mo re frequently a hard physical job, reported more frequently a personal hist ory of disease and were less frequently retired or inactive than non-users. In Northern Ireland, 21% of subjects were vitamin supplement users; users had a lower body mass index, drank less alcohol, had a higher educational l evel, were more frequently non-smokers and professionally active,a nd repor ted a hard physical job and the practice of leisure sports more frequently than non-users. Finally, vitamin supplement users in Northern Ireland had a lower consumption of alcohol, smoked less, had a lower frequency of person al history of disease and were more frequently on dietary therapy for hyper tension or dyslipidaemia than their French counterparts. We concluded that vitamin supplement use is associated with a healthier lif estyle and with dietary measures against hypertension and dyslipidaemia in Northern Ireland. the less favourable lifestyle observed for vitamin supple ment users in France awaits further investigation.