A mid-life health crisis : supplements for good health.

Abstract

This study examines how middle aged, middle class people in Singapore view and look at their own health, and also the methods they employ to maintain their health, especially in the consumption of health supplements. I want to understand how people from different ethnic backgrounds understand their own health, and also the distinction between male and female ideals of health. The data is collected from 20 interviewees between the ages 30 to 60, with a representative percentage of the national ethnic division, in a period of three months from October 2009 to January 2010. An important finding is the challenges to their doctors’ opinions by seeking second opinions from friends and the Internet, as well as the link between gender and the propensity to consume health supplements, where men are more likely to reject supplements and women to consume them and encourage others to consume them regardless of their ethnicity.