Some teens try to get buff from a bottle

Many teenagers wish for a toned physique, and some turn to dietary supplements or hormones to get one, according to a new study.

Researchers found that among more than 10,000 12- to 18-year-olds, roughly 5 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls regularly used some purported muscle enhancer—most commonly protein powders or shakes, but also dietary supplements such as creatine and amino acids.

A handful said they frequently used steroids or other hormonal substances—namely growth hormone or the over-the-counter supplement DHEA—and more had at least tried such products in the past year.

Though relatively few teens in the survey used supplements and hormones, it’s still cause for concern, according to the study’s lead author, Dr. Alison E. Field of Children’s Hospital Boston.

“Any percentage is troubling, particularly when you’re talking about kids this age,” she told Reuters Health.

While protein powders may be fine, there are clear dangers to using steroids, Field pointed out, and the long-term effects of dietary supplements sold as performance enhancers are unknown.

She said the study, which is published in the journal Pediatrics, also points to a larger issue: if use of muscle-building substances was relatively uncommon, body-image concerns were not.

About one-third of the teenagers said they often wished they were more “toned” or “defined,” and these teens were more likely than their peers to use a muscle-enhancing product. Preoccupation with getting toned, Field and her colleagues say, may constitute a common but overlooked body-image problem for both boys and girls.

Body-image issues are usually viewed in terms of girls who are obsessed with being thin. But these findings, Field said, show that both boys and girls feel pressure to attain some ideal shape.

In the study, boys who read men’s or health and fitness magazines were twice as likely as their peers to use a muscle-enhancing product. The same was true of boys and girls who said they were “making a lot of effort” to look like a particular person in the media.

That doesn’t mean media images caused the teenagers’ body concerns, Field noted. But regardless, she said, the finding suggests kids need a dose of realism to counter those images of impossibly toned physiques.

“We need to make children more media-savvy,” Field said. For one, she added, kids should know “how doctored those pictures are.”

“They’re trying to attain an impossible ideal.”

The study is based on data collected in 1999 from a long-term study of weight change in adolescence. More than 10,400 12- to 18-year-olds filled out questionnaires on body image, media exposure and use of several products designed to boost muscle mass and strength.

Overall, 10 percent of boys and 8 percent of girls had used a protein powder or shake some time in the past year. Four percent of boys had used creatine, a protein in muscle that helps supply energy for short bursts of activity; some research suggests supplemental creatine improves muscle mass and strength, but side effects include cramping and dehydration. The long-term safety of the supplement is unclear.

Other supplements included hydroxy methylbutyrate (HMB), a substance produced in the body when muscle tissue breaks down, and DHEA, a synthesized version of a hormone produced by the adrenal glands that can be converted to testosterone and estrogen. The long-term safety of each is unclear, and in the case of DHEA, potential side effects include elevated blood pressure, lowered levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and liver damage.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, August 2005.

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