Thirteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Recently it has been shown that gymnasium users are aware of the increased use of nutritional supplements in commercial gymnasiums. Supplement ingestion is to increase the nutritional content of a normal diet, to fill a dietary need, and/or a presumed deficiency. These supplements are often used by people in predominantly affluent communities who engage in competitive ‘activities’ and/or to enhance body image. Supplements may contain adulterated substances that may potentially have harmful short - and long-term health consequences to the consumer. Many of the users of supplements are unaware of the potential mislabelling on the products, the health/wellness benefit and risk concerns, and the ‘contradictions’ regarding consumption. Food movements (globally), are a growing and a diverse phenomenon. In South Africa, youth are the majority of the large unemployed sector, hence job creation for youth in poor communities is a key development goal. Preliminary research findings indicate a socio-cultural shift where young people have become involved in urban food gardens, with a consummate high level of bodily awareness, including maintenance of their health and wellness, through gardening. Township youth (gardeners) may thus redirect their ideas of a good body-image into new urban food movements. Thus, for the non-affluent youth consumer, who may not be able to afford nutritional supplement products, may resort to high caffeine containing energy drinks, to supplement, and redirect their ideas of a good body-image, due to social-cultural and lifestyle shifts. The research paper illuminates the respective paradigms and the consequence and contradictions of supplement consumption.