Increased dependency on dietary supplements for calcium, vitamin B1 and vitamin C intake during the COVID-19 pandemic among healthy adults: Data from the eighth Korea national health and nutrition examination survey (2019–2020)

This study aimed to assess the data of a healthy population at the Korean national level to explore the prevalence of dietary supplement (DS) use changes and the contribution of DSs to micronutrient intake during the pandemic. Data from the first (2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic) and second (2020, the year that the acute pandemic caused substantial life changes) years of the eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were investigated using a weighted complex sample design. Conversions (supplementation/dietary intake (S/D ratio), supplementation to total intake (StT), and supplementation to reference (StR)) were presented to investigate DS dependency and demonstrate that individuals’ nutrient intake derived from DSs increased. The total adult population was 4871 and 4421 in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Among healthy adults, 64.2% took DSs in 2020, 7.2% higher than that in 2019 (P