According to Associated Press, about half of U.S. adults take vitamins and other dietary supplements, with percentages keeping steady for much of the past decade. A new government data shows that a booming number of older women are taking calcium. Federal officials released figures showing the use of dietary supplements has grown since the early 1990s, the usage levels leveled off in 2003 through 2008. About half of adults 20 and older take at least one dietary supplement a day.

The biggest rise was seen in calcium. Two thirds of women 60 and older are taking calcium each day, up 28 percent since 1990. Baby boomers may be contributing to these figures, experts say. Many women have also been encouraged to take calcium to protect against female health issues during menopause including osteoporosis.

Federal officials conducted surveys in 1988-1994 and 2003-2008 and asked participants to list what supplements they took. Data collectors also asked to see the bottles for verification purposes. Use of multivitamins was the most popular, up 40 percent since the last survey.

The survey found that most people who take vitamins and dietary supplements are well educated and have good incomes, and most eat well and receive healthy amounts of nutrients from their diets. Some argue that individuals taking supplements do not really need them, while the rest of the population who needs additional nutrition due to poor diets skips the essential vitamins. Federal surveys have recently started asking why people take supplements, with many reporting taking supplements due to pregnancy, folic acid for women thinking about conceiving, and calcium for older women to prevent osteoporosis.