Buff bods pressure teen boys
By Sameh Fahmy
Nashville Tennessean
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| Gannett News Service |
Which is why experts say it should come as no surprise that high school-age boys are feeling more pressure to bulk up these days and are increasingly taking dangerous and illegal steroids to get there.
A national study conducted last year by the University of Michigan found that 3.5 percent of high school seniors had used illegal steroids, up from 2 percent 10 years earlier.
That figure doesn't include the use of over-the-counter supplements such as creatine, which are legal and cheaper but may carry health risks, too.
While steroid use was once largely confined to football players and other competitive athletes, experts see a troubling rise in the use of steroids among nonathletes who want to look bigger for the sake of looking bigger.
"Typically in high school it would be the jocks (using steroids)," says Dr. Nick Evans, "Whereas now we're seeing that your average Joe is seeing that he can somehow benefit by improving his physique to improve his self-confidence, whatever that might be, or to prevent bullying or get the girls."
Evans specializes in sports medicine at UCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital in Los Angeles and is author of "Men's Body Sculpting" (Human Kinetics Publishers, $18.95).
Nearly 10 years ago, he conducted a study that found 66 percent of steroid users weren't athletes. A follow-up study conducted this year found that number has increased to 80 percent.
Mark Anshel, a professor of physical education and sports psychology at Middle Tennessee State University, says coaches often implicitly endorse steroid use by turning a blind eye to it.
Dr. Deanna Aftab Guy, a pediatric endocrinologist at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, says the media and coaches aren't the only ones that pressure youth to be bigger.
"I have seen a lot more parents concerned about growth," Guy says. "But not as far as stature (height). They think their children's muscle tone should improve for their competitive sports."
This happens more often in affluent communities, she says, and the desire for college athletic scholarships seems to be driving much of the interest.
Anshel says the current controversy over the possible use of steroids among Major League baseball players won't put a dent in steroid use by youth, because media coverage tends to focus on the ethics of steroid use rather than the health risks.
Muscle-building steroids are a synthetic version of the male hormone testosterone.
A review of studies on steroids by Evans published earlier this year in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that up to 96 percent of steroid users have at least one side effect.
These side effects include acne, testicle shrinkage or the development of extra breast tissue.
Other less-common but more severe problems include increased aggression, often referred to as " 'roid rage," and potentially fatal heart-rhythm irregularities. Some doctors warn about an increased risk of liver cancer among steroid users, and youth who use steroids risk stunted growth because steroids can halt bone elongation.
To stop steroid use before it begins, experts urge parents and coaches to stop putting so much pressure on youth. Since youth tend to look up to professional athletes and other celebrities, Anshel says he'd like to see them step in front of a camera and warn that steroids can kill.
