Self-Medication of Multivitamins Among Youth: An Ethnographic Account of Gym

Abstract

The study investigates the self-medication of multivitamins among the gym going youth. It looks into the interplay between youth’s lifestyle with that of use of multivitamins. Anthropological techniques and tools such as participant as observer, rapport building, interview guide and Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) were used to collect data from gym going youth. A purposive sample of 25 respondents of age bracket (18 to 41) based on different class, ethnicity, socio-economic factor, educational backgrounds and age groups is used to collect data from the respondents. The sample includes youngsters (age 18-24), early youth (age 25-34) and older youth (age 35 -41) out of which 13 were females and 12 were males through purposive sampling technique. To get the holistic picture two Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) were also conducted to know gym going youth responses in the presence of each other. The findings of the current study reveal that multivitamins play an important role to enhance the trends associated with the positive body image. Gym going youth own choices and the role of gym trainers have a significant role in the self-medication of multivitamins culture to achieve the desired positive body image among youth of gym. Self-medication of multivitamins also presents by gym going youth as an easy and convenient way to supplement their diet and guarantee their acquisition of necessary vitamins and minerals in a short span of time. The aspects that profoundly played a major role in the self-medication of multivitamins among gym going youth are cultural beliefs, popular culture, influence of media and marketing culture, lifestyle, social norms and peer influences that allow gym going youth to use different multivitamins as a shortcut to gain positive body image.