Survey on How Many People in Sri Lanka are Interested in Fish Oil Dietary Supplements

Abstract

Consumption of fish or fish oil containing ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) reduces the risk of coronary heart diseases, decreases mild hypertension, lowers the incidents of diabetics, and is important during pregnancy as a critical building block of foetus brain and retina. Therefore, fish oil dietary supplements have attracted more attention from people around the world recently. The present study attempts to gain an understanding of Sri Lankan people's interest in and awareness of fish oil dietary supplements. A questionnaire was used to collect the most reliable and accurate data from 200 individuals. In order to gather useful and relevant information, the questionnaire contained various components including general information about participants, fish consumption pattern, fish oil dietary supplement usage, diseases, etc. A recent survey indicates that Sri Lankan people have generally less interest in fish oil dietary supplements. According to the data analysis, only 10% of people use fish oil dietary supplements and 85% of them are between 20-30 age limits. Moreover, most of them eat fish usually in their diets and non-fish eaters do not take both fish and fish oil dietary supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids play a vital role in the human body. It has been suggested that nonconsumers of fish should take fish oil as a dietary supplement to fulfill their omega- 3 requirement. Based on the findings, this research can contribute towards informing the general public about fish oil dietary supplements and their accurate usage.