世論 What Japan Thinks

Recently, infoPLANT, in conjunction with C-NEWS, released the results of a closed internet survey into the consumption of supplements. Over two days at the very end of October they interviewed 1,500 people, 750 male and 750 female, and 300 in each of the age groups from the twenties to the sixties and older. This 50:50 sex split was present in each of the age groups too.

A little anecdote – a friend of mine had his blood lipid (cholesterol) level recorded as just over the safe limits (although Japanese safe levels are lower than Western levels, apparently) and all he did way take two Nature Made fish oil capsules a day, still maintaining the same diet otherwise, and after six months his levels had dropped 10% back into the safe zone.

Q1: Have you ever used supplements? (Sample size=1,500)

	All	Male N=750	Female N=750
Yes	75.1%	66.0%	84.1%
No	24.9%	34.0%	15.9%

Q2: Currently, which of these aspects do you particularly want to improve or maintain? (Sample size=1,500, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=750	Female N=750
Become younger	53.6%	46.5%	60.7%
Build strong body	48.3%	49.6%	47.1%
Lose weight	38.9%	32.4%	45.5%
Shiny, glossy skin	32.4%	12.8%	52.0%
Maintain body shape	29.1%	23.9%	34.4%
Blemish-free skin	28.9%	7.9%	49.9%
Clean pores	23.5%	5.5%	41.6%
Wrinkle-free skin	22.2%	5.6%	38.8%
Spot-free or smooth skin	19.0%	11.1%	26.9%
Improve resistance to allergies	12.5%	10.4%	14.5%
Improve period regularity, ED	8.5%	1.5%	15.2%
Cure dermatitis	5.3%	4.7%	6.0%
None of the above	7.9%	13.3%	2.5%

Q3: About how often do you take supplements? (Sample size=1,126)

	All	20-29 years old N=205	30-39 years old N=243	40-49 years old N=237	50-59 years old N=222	60+ years old N=219
Thrice a day or more	4.8%	4.4%	4.5%	4.6%	5.4%	5.0%
Twice a day	14.1%	11.7%	10.3%	15.2%	15.8%	17.8%
Once a day	35.7%	28.8%	31.3%	34.6%	44.1%	39.7%
Five or six times per week	2.8%	2.4%	1.2%	3.4%	2.7%	4.1%
Three or four times a week	5.2%	3.9%	4.1%	5.9%	6.3%	5.9%
Once or twice a week	5.8%	6.3%	8.6%	5.1%	5.4%	3.2%
Twice or thrice a month	2.7%	3.9%	4.1%	1.7%	0.9%	2.7%
Once a month	1.6%	3.4%	2.1%	1.3%	0.5%	0.9%
Once every two or three months	1.6%	2.0%	1.2%	3.0%	0.9%	0.9%
Once every six months or less	1.2%	1.5%	1.6%	0.8%	0.5%	1.4%
Not taken any recently	24.6%	31.7%	30.9%	24.5%	17.6%	18.3%

Q4: Why are you using supplements? (Sample size=849)

To make up for insufficencies in diet	43.3%
Maintain health	42.4%
Relieve tired eyes	22.1%
Anti-aging	21.1%
Relieve work-related fatigue	19.6%
Beauty	17.1%
Improve blood condition	16.6%
Improve rough skin	16.5%
Lose weight	12.5%
Prevent colds	11.5%
Improve constitution	11.1%
Reduce cholesterol, neutral lipids	10.0%
Supplemental nourishment for muscle fatigue	10.0%
Cure constipation	9.8%
Prevent osteoporosis	8.6%
Relieve stiff shoulders	8.5%
Prevent anaemia	6.7%
Sports nourishment	4.2%
Fix hormone balance	3.7%
Improve muscles	3.5%
Relieve stress	2.9%
Fight allergies	2.8%
Instead of food	1.3%
Relieve swollen limbs	1.2%
Other	4.5%
No particular reason	1.6%

Q5: How much on average do you spend per month on supplements? (Sample size=849)

	All	20-29 years old N=104	30-39 years old N=168	40-49 years old N=179	50-59 years old N=183	60+ years old N=179
Up to 200 yen	2.6%	5.0%	3.0%	4.6%	5.4%	3.4%
200 to 500 yen	6.0%	13.6%	5.4%	1.7%	0.5%	2.8%
500 to 1,000 yen	12.7%	21.4%	17.9%	8.4%	1.6%	6.7%
1,000 to 1,500 yen	14.5%	16.4%	20.2%	10.6%	9.3%	9.5%
1,500 to 2,000 yen	15.0%	12.1%	22.6%	16.8%	10.4%	14.5%
2,000 to 2,500 yen	8.2%	10.0%	9.5%	14.5%	10.9%	6.7%
2,500 to 3,000 yen	11.0%	6.4%	4.2%	8.4%	7.1%	15.1%
3,000 to 4,000 yen	8.1%	6.4%	2.4%	8.4%	19.1%	8.9%
4,000 to 5,000 yen	8.2%	3.6%	8.3%	12.8%	9.3%	11.2%
5,000 to 6,000 yen	5.5%	2.1%	3.6%	5.6%	11.5%	6.7%
6,000 to 7,000 yen	0.9%	0.0%	0.6%	7.3%	7.1%	1.7%
7,000 to 8,000 yen	0.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.6%	1.6%	2.2%
8,000 to 9,000 yen	0.7%	0.7%	0.0%	0.0%	1.6%	0.6%
9,000 to 10,000 yen	1.8%	0.7%	1.2%	1.7%	0.5%	2.2%
Over 10,000 yen	3.9%	1.4%	1.2%	0.6%	3.8%	7.8%

Q6: Do you want to use supplements in the future? (Sample size=1,500)

Yes	36.4%
Probably	14.9%
Can’t say either way	22.2%
Probably not	9.1%
No	17.3%