A cross-sectional study of 1000 Vietnamese pediatric outpatients found a probiotic-centric, conservative dietary supplement prescribing paradigm with high age appropriateness (99.1%) but notable dosage non-compliance (9.0%), with gaps in addressing high-risk nutritional groups and dosing accuracy in complex regimens.
Key Findings
Results
Monotherapy was the dominant dietary supplement prescribing pattern, occurring in 69.0% of pediatric outpatients.
Monotherapy was primarily observed in children aged 1–10 years (53.1% of cases).
Probiotics were the most prevalent single supplement (20.5%), followed by multivitamin-mineral-amino acid complexes (8.1%).
Respiratory and infectious diagnoses were the primary drivers of supplement prescribing.
Study was a 2024 cross-sectional design with 1000 Vietnamese pediatric outpatients.
Results
Poly-supplementation occurred in 31.0% of patients and was common in mid-childhood.
Zinc-probiotic combinations were the most common poly-supplement regimen (4.8%), described as addressing multifaceted needs.
Complex regimens posed dosing challenges compared to monotherapy.
Prescription multiplicity was a key predictor of dosage non-compliance, with dual DS showing adjusted OR = 1.85 (P = 0.0150) and triple DS showing adjusted OR = 2.72 (P = 0.0226).
Results
Age appropriateness of dietary supplement prescribing was high at 99.1%, with minor deviations occurring primarily in infants.
Age-inappropriate prescriptions accounted for only 0.9% of cases.
Deviations in infants (0.5%) were linked to digestive disorders (adjusted OR = 22.90, P = 0.0006).
Digestive diagnoses were identified as a key predictor of age non-compliance via logistic regression.
Results
Dosage compliance was 91.0%, with 9.0% of prescriptions exceeding recommended doses, particularly in complex formulations.
Multivitamin-mineral-amino acid formulations had the highest dosage exceedance rate at 24.8%.
Prescription multiplicity (dual and triple DS regimens) was a significant predictor of dosage non-compliance.
Digestive diagnoses were also identified as a key predictor of dosage non-compliance.
Results
Normal-weight children dominated dietary supplement use (74.5%), while underweight and overweight groups showed potential underutilization of corrective supplements.
Underweight children (6.9%) received minimal dietary supplements despite evidence supporting multi-nutrient interventions for growth recovery.
Overweight children (18.6%) showed potential underutilization of corrective supplements such as vitamin D for obesity-related deficits.
The authors characterized normal-weight dominance as reflecting 'demographic proportionality rather than targeted needs.'
Zinc for malnutrition was cited as an example of an underutilized corrective supplement in underweight children.
Results
Respiratory and infectious diagnoses were the primary clinical drivers of dietary supplement prescribing in the study population.
Respiratory diagnoses accounted for 58.8% of cases associated with supplement prescribing.
Digestive diagnoses were also notably associated with both age-inappropriate prescribing and dosage non-compliance.
The overall prescribing paradigm was described as 'probiotic-centric and conservative.'
Pham E, Le T, Do T, Le T, Le H, Nguyen N, et al.. (2026). Prescribing patterns and appropriateness of dietary supplements in pediatric outpatients by age, nutritional status, and clinical diagnoses.. Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2025.113082