Fish Oil and Yoga Are Making Gains

About one-third of Americans aged 18 or older used "complementary" (or alternative) medicine in 2012. Complementary medicine is a grab bag of tools and techniques for improving and maintaining health, including fish oil supplements, yoga, chiropractic manipulation, massage, and homeopathic treatments. The government has been tracking trends in the use of complementary medicine for a decade now, with surveys fielded in 2002, 2007, and 2012. Here are some of the more interesting findings from the 2012 survey...

• Dietary supplements are the most popular complementary medicine, used by 41 million adults in 2012 (18 percent of the population). Fish oil ranks number one among supplements, with 19 million users in the past 30 days. Eight percent of adults take fish oil supplements, up from 5 percent in 2007.
• Yoga is making steady gains, with the percentage practicing yoga nearly doubling from 5.1 percent in 2002 to 9.5 percent in 2012. Every age group boosted its participation in yoga during those years. People aged 18 to 44 are most likely to practice yoga, with 11.2 percent doing so in 2012. The figures are 7.2 percent among 45-to-64-year-olds and 3.3 percent among people aged 65 or older.

Source: National Center of Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, Trends in the Use of Complementary Health Approaches among Adults: United States, 2002-2012