The Cigarette Smoking, Coffee and Supplements Intake at Students of Sarajevo University

INTRODUCTION: The dietary supplements are defined as vitamins and minerals or herbal products and are typically given in the form of a capsule or tablet. The nonsmokers are more attempted to use dietary supplements than individuals who smoke. AIM: In our investigation, we examined associations between vitamin B, folic acid, multivitamin or mineral intake among the student population and their correlation with smoking prevalence and drinking coffee. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a questionnaire to examine the general characteristics of the subjects, age, sex, their lifestyle, cigarette smoking, coffee intake and their use of dietary supplements. Data were collected from participants of the University of Sarajevo and a longitudinal study of 960 men and women aged 18-24 years from 2017 to 2018 was conducted. RESULTS: The results showed that 32% of students took vitamin B supplements and 10% folic acid. In opposite, more than half of students took multivitamins (59.5%) and minerals (60.4%) less than one year. About a quarter or less took multivitamins (23.9%) and minerals (24.3%) for years. Less than 20% of students took multivitamins and minerals within a period of one year. In student population smoking prevalence was estimated at 21.2% and coffee intake in 71.2%. The smoking and use of vitamin B supplements were independent of each other, p = 0.201. The use of folic acid did not depend on smoking p = 0.501. There were no observed correlations between multivitamin and mineral supplement consumption compared to smoking status or drinking coffee. CONCLUSION: Deficient dietary intake of folic acid and B vitamins from food and supplemental sources appear to be one of the atherosclerosis incidences. Further studies should examine associations between dietary supplements intake and lifestyle of students, as well as smoking status and coffee intake.