Performance enhancing drug use has been a hot topic in the news over the last few months. Big names like Lance Armstrong, Alex Rodriguez and Ray Lewis have all been linked to performance enhancing drugs, and those athletes have had considerable success throughout their storied careers. While many people can see the performance enhancing effects these drugs have on adults, researchers wanted to determine the effectiveness of over the counter substances targeted to improve sport performance in adolescents.
Background
Dietary supplement use among teens is becoming increasingly popular. One estimate suggests that 70% of youth under age 18 have consumed dietary supplements at least once, with the majority seeking improved performance in sports. Marketers have caught on, and they use words like muscle mass, speed and agility to entice teens. Below are some ways marketers advertise their products to teens.
- Agents used for weight gain, including over-the-counter products are advertised as “muscle mass enhancers”.
- Supplements used for weight control, including stimulants, diet pills, diuretics, and laxatives are targeted as “lean and fit” products for athletes who need to meet certain weight classifications.
- Powders or other pills that support muscle growth are said to “regenerate muscles to boost performance”.
With high school sport participation at an all time high, researchers hoped to note the physical and mental health effects certain dietary supplements had on young athletes. The aim of the study was to assess self-reported use of dietary supplements to enhance athletic and sport performance among children and teens.
Method
The Center for Disease Control and Protection defines adolescents as those aged 10–24 years, so the sample included children between the age of 10-18, and adolescents between the ages of 18-24. The variables retained included socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, geographic location, and citizenship status of the respondents; parental presence in the family; parental level of education; parental use of sport enhancement, herbal, vitamin/mineral supplements; and use of any herb, vitamin, and/or mineral for sports performance by these children.
The study asked participants or their parents whether the adolescent had “improved their sport performance” within the past 30 days by taking either a vitamin or other substance for the purpose of “enhancing sport performance.”
Results
Researchers analyzed 9,417 records, which resulted in a population estimate of over 73.7 million. Based on their calculations, about 1.2 million (1.64%) children or adolescents reported using some sort of dietary supplement specifically targeted to enhance sport performance, and about the same percentage (1.65%) noted an improvement in their sport performance.
Other findings include:
- The mean age of those reporting the use of supplements was 10.8 years old.
- 72.9% of respondents reported living with both parents.
- Whites were roughly three times more likely to use dietary supplements than blacks, and about five times more likely than Hispanics.
- Males were twice more likely to use sport enhancing dietary supplements than women.
- Coaches were the most likely to recommend and performance enhancing dietary supplement.
Dr. Silverman comments
This study is horrendously non-specific and disappointing. With 73.7 million children studied, you would think that a few more salient correlations could be identified. The biggest conclusion they came to was that males and whites were more common supplement users.
I was most intrigued by the report that coaches were the most likely to recommend an enhancing substance.
One thing that was misleading was that the authors included the use of any substance that the child believed was a sports enhancement, including vitamins and Omega-3 fatty acids. They went on to say the mean age was 10.8 years old. I can’t imagine a better way as a parent to get younger children to take their vitamins than by saying “This will make you big and strong”. Of course they will report using vitamins as a supplement.
Overall; I was disappointed and was left hoping for so much more. Hopefully follow up studies will be more interesting. We understand a great deal about the long term effects certain supplements have on adults, but we have so little understanding of the long term effects on children. I can imagine the younger age group being a fascinating population to study.
Related source: Medscape