Author
Adviser
There is a rising prevalence of the use of dietary supplements for being known to improve the overall health of consumers and reduce the risk of disease. The outbreak of COVID-19 as a public health emergency concern necessitated nutrition interventions that will increase body’s immunity against viral infections (Hamulka, et al., 2020). Intake of dietary supplements was identified as one of the preventive and treatments measures for COVID-19 (Alagawan et al., 2021). This cross-sectional study was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practices on dietary supplements intake of households amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted among 56 mothers or caregivers in Quezon City. The level of KAP was expressed as percent mean scores, and were interpreted as poor, moderate, and good for knowledge; positive, moderate, and negative attitudes; and poor, moderate, and good for practices. The Chi-Square test of independence and Cramer’s V were used to measure the association between the KAP variables, and between KAP on dietary supplements and COVID-19 history. The study revealed that 98% of the respondents had poor knowledge, 69.6% neutral attitudes towards dietary supplements, and 55.4% showed moderate or neutral practices. There was no association found between knowledge and attitude; and knowledge and practices. On the other hand, the level of attitude showed a strong positive correlation to practice with Cramer’s V coefficient of 0.39 indicating an association between two variables. Moreover, no association was found between KAP and COVID-19 history of households. A low level of knowledge, neutral attitude, and irregular dietary supplement use was observed among the respondents. Nutrition information and education programs on dietary supplement use and safety at the barangay level are recommended.