Department of Food Function and Labeling, National Institute of Health and Nutrition, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8363, Japan.
Nutrients. 2022 Jun 22;14(13):2586. doi: 10.3390/nu14132586.
People's intake of some minerals does not meet the nutrient reference values even in high-income countries. Recently, the deficiency of zinc and/or selenium has been considered to cause greater risk of COVID-19 infection and severity. To investigate consumer awareness, we conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire online survey among Japanese people (7500 males and 7500 females) concerning their perceptions of each mineral and the prevalence of mineral-fortified foods and/or mineral supplements. People's perception of each mineral varied: the highest was for calcium (91.8%) and the lowest was for selenium (44.7%). In addition, only a portion of participants believed that they consumed a sufficient amount of each mineral; the highest was sodium (23.7%), and the lowest was manganese (5.2%). In addition, 18.2% of them felt that they could not consume enough sodium, even though most of the Japanese's intake is excessive. Among mineral-fortified-food and/or mineral-supplement users, the purposes for these products were to maintain health (80.6%), supplement nutrients (48.0%), and prevent infectious diseases (23.2%). Only 18.4% of participants knew what amount they took. In conclusion, education is needed to prevent not only the insufficiency/deficiency of each mineral but also an excess intake of sodium.
即使在高收入国家，人们的某些矿物质摄入量也不符合营养参考值。最近，锌和/或硒的缺乏被认为会导致更大的 COVID-19 感染和严重程度的风险。为了调查消费者的认知，我们针对日本男性（7500 人）和女性（7500 人）进行了一项横断面问卷调查，了解他们对每种矿物质的看法、矿物质强化食品和/或矿物质补充剂的流行情况。人们对每种矿物质的认知存在差异：最高的是钙（91.8%），最低的是硒（44.7%）。此外，只有一部分参与者认为他们摄入了足够的每种矿物质；最高的是钠（23.7%），最低的是锰（5.2%）。此外，尽管大多数日本人的摄入量已经过多，但仍有 18.2%的人认为他们无法摄入足够的钠。在食用矿物质强化食品和/或矿物质补充剂的人中，这些产品的用途是保持健康（80.6%）、补充营养（48.0%）和预防传染病（23.2%）。只有 18.4%的参与者知道他们服用了多少量。总之，需要进行教育，不仅要预防每种矿物质的不足/缺乏，还要预防钠的过量摄入。
