Hua Sophia V, Granger Brigitte, Bauer Kelly, Roberto Christina A
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Supporti, LLC, 665 Huntington Ave., Building 2, Room 320, 300 Lenora Street #667, Seattle, WA 98121, United States.
Prev Med Rep. 2021 Jul 23;23:101504. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101504. eCollection 2021 Sep.
Most dietary supplements for weight loss and muscle growth lack scientific evidence in support of product claims and contain ingredients that can be harmful to health. Many people, however, still use these products. This paper aims to address a gap in the knowledge of the number and types of marketing claims appearing on dietary supplements for weight loss and muscle building and how they relate to the presence of an FDA disclaimer. We identified all products (n = 110) found in the weight loss and muscle building section of three stores (a pharmacy, supermarket, and superstore) in the Boston, MA area during 2013. We performed a content analysis to assess the presence of marketing claims displayed on product packaging, including claims about weight loss, safety, quality, and scientific evidence. Warnings and the FDA disclaimer were also coded. We found that, on average, products displayed 6.5 claims. Among weight loss- and muscle building- related claims, claims about reducing weight, BMI, or body fat were most common (60.9%), followed by protein claims (40.0%). Nearly half of the products made claims that scientific research supported product use. Products with the FDA disclaimer (53.6%) or a warning for vulnerable populations (56.4%) had a higher average number of claims compared to products without the disclaimer or warning ( < 0.001). Dietary supplements for weight loss and muscle building displayed many marketing claims promising weight loss despite a lack of scientific evidence that such products can be used safely and effectively. Greater FDA regulation of these marketing claims are needed.
大多数用于减肥和增肌的膳食补充剂缺乏支持产品宣称的科学证据，并且含有可能对健康有害的成分。然而，许多人仍在使用这些产品。本文旨在填补一项知识空白，即了解减肥和增肌膳食补充剂上出现的营销宣称的数量和类型，以及它们与美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）免责声明的存在有何关联。我们识别出了2013年在马萨诸塞州波士顿地区三家商店（一家药店、一家超市和一家大型超市）的减肥和增肌区发现的所有产品（n = 110）。我们进行了内容分析，以评估产品包装上显示的营销宣称的存在情况，包括有关减肥、安全性、质量和科学证据的宣称。警告和FDA免责声明也进行了编码。我们发现，产品平均展示了6.5条宣称。在与减肥和增肌相关的宣称中，关于减轻体重、身体质量指数（BMI）或体脂的宣称最为常见（60.9%），其次是蛋白质宣称（40.0%）。近一半的产品宣称有科学研究支持产品的使用。与没有免责声明或警告的产品相比，有FDA免责声明（53.6%）或针对易感人群的警告（56.4%）的产品平均宣称数量更高（P < 0.001）。尽管缺乏科学证据表明此类产品可以安全有效地使用，但减肥和增肌膳食补充剂仍展示了许多承诺减肥的营销宣称。需要FDA对这些营销宣称进行更严格的监管。
