High Use of Dietary Supplements and Low Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Among Italian Adolescents: Results from the EduALI Project

Objective: Eating habits established during adolescence play a crucial role in shaping both current and future health status. However, adolescents today appear to be increasingly adopting poorer dietary and lifestyle habits. This study aims to investigate eating behaviors and supplement use among adolescent students who participated in the EduALI nutrition education project. Methods: The project included first-year students from six sports-oriented scientific high schools in Florence. The students participated in six nutrition sessions, completing the International Physical Activity Questionnaire to assess physical activity performance, a questionnaire on dietary supplement use, and, to assess eating habits a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), as well as the Medi-Lite questionnaire to specifically assess adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD). The data from the FFQ were compared with national dietary guidelines. Results: The study sample consisted of 83 students (69.9% male; average age: 13.8 ± 0.4y). The results showed that 61.4% of participants had used supplements in the past year, most commonly mineral salts (56.6%) and vitamins (54.2%), followed by botanical products (22%), sports drinks (16%), proteins/amino acids (8%), and creatine (2%). Alarmingly, 27.7% used supplements without medical supervision. Students involved in individual sports had higher supplement consumption than those in team sports, especially creatine use. Eating habits revealed poor adherence to both the MD and Italian dietary guidelines, with deficiencies in fruits, vegetables, olive oil, fish, and legumes, and excessive intake of cheese, meat, especially red and processed meats. Conclusions: A high prevalence of supplement use among adolescents was observed, along with poor adherence to dietary guidelines and MD. These findings underscore the need for targeted, school- and sport-based interventions to enhance adolescents’ nutritional awareness and responsible supplement use.