Some Teens Use Supplements

**shootmeagain** · 08-01-2005, 04:03 PM

OH NO! What are we going to do about this growing interest among America's youth to be fit, strong, and healthy? IT COULD BECOME A CRISIS!!!

What morons. Don't journalists actually have to read anything about a subject before writing about it?

Once again, the line between the word 'supplement' and 'steroid' is blurred...

For Toned Look, Some Teens Use Supplements

By LINDSEY TANNER
The Associated Press
Monday, August 1, 2005; 12:08 AM

CHICAGO -- Getting a sculpted look is a goal for many U.S. teens _ and while some are using dangerous supplements to get it, sizable numbers of girls and boys are engaging in more healthy strength-training, a survey found.

Eight percent of girls and 12 percent of boys surveyed said they used supplements in striving to become more buff. Protein shakes and powders were the most commonly used, but teens also listed steroids, growth hormone, amino acids and other potentially unhealthful products among those they'd tried in the previous year.

With obesity on the rise, it's encouraging on the one hand that many teens try to look fit, said lead author Alison Fields, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. But there's "a fine line" between fighting obesity and using potentially unhealthy methods to achieve potentially unrealistic goals, she said.

"Our results would suggest that some of these kids have gone right past healthy to something unhealthy," Field said.

The report appears in the August edition of Pediatrics, being issued Monday. It was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and cereal-maker Kellogg Co.

Field said the large numbers of youngsters thinking about getting toned or actively trying to achieve the look suggests at least some likely have unrealistic expectations about how their bodies can or should look.

Dr. Eric Small, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' sports medicine and fitness committee, said he suspects supplement use was underreported, since other studies have suggested that teens' use of steroids alone is more prevalent.

Small helped write an academy policy statement published in April that says performance-enhancing supplements are unproven and under-regulated and should not be used by children or teens. He was not involved in the survey.

"Everyone wants a quick fix" but lifestyle changes are generally more effective, Small said, adding that teens should seek healthy lifestyles rather than trying to emulate a certain look.

"Working out is definitely a good thing but you have to work out for the right reasons," Small said.

The study was based on a 1999 survey conducted by Field and colleagues of 10,449 12- to 18-year-olds whose mothers were participating in a Harvard-affiliated study of nurses' health.

Roughly 30 percent each of boys and girls said they frequently thought about wanting more defined muscles. Forty-four percent of girls and 62 percent of boys said they'd participated in strength training. That activity wasn't defined but it likely included weightlifting, pilates and yoga, Field said.

Boys who read men's, fashion or fitness magazines and girls who said they wanted to look like famous women were more likely than other youngsters surveyed to use supplements to enhance their physique. However, the researchers said they were unable to determine if youngsters who were already fitness-conscious were more drawn to fitness-oriented media, or whether it was exposure to media that prompted their fitness-seeking behavior.

About 15 percent of the girls and 23 percent of the boys were chubby or seriously overweight. About three-fourths of the youngsters participated in team sports, and most were white and from at least middle-class families.

**jminis** · 08-01-2005, 05:02 PM

All's I have to say is watch out for those amino acids. Bad stuff I tell ya bad stuff.

Seriously the fat journalist who wrote this should be smacked on all three of his chins. what a waste of ink

-2z- · 08-01-2005, 06:35 PM

That's some of the most irresponsible, so called "journalism" I've ever read in my life.
That's like saying "automobile" and "airplane" mean the same thing.

MarcusG · 08-01-2005, 07:57 PM

Teens should stay away from aminos and eat a proper diet. Terrible waste of money.

UnicronSpawn · 08-02-2005, 03:48 AM

That article was offensive, its like looking at a festering turd or something.......eeeeew! I dont want to see that!

rogermoore · 08-02-2005, 06:10 AM

You can send email to Associated Press:
info@ap.org

Here is their homepage:
www.ap.org

arlowf · 08-02-2005, 06:38 AM

People like this almost got me expelled and put in Juvenille Prison during highschool. I hate, hate, hate these people. My life was a living hell because I had some leptigen in my locker.

Is there a country on this planet that doesn't give a **** what you have supplement/chemical wise? Anyone know which country has the most bodybuilder friendly laws?

-2z- · 08-02-2005, 07:45 AM

Thailand must be pretty decent....Dennis James I think lives there.
Frickin' Hot and humid though.
Maybe Canada? I hear personal use "goodies" are ok there...lol.

Gethuge · 08-02-2005, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -2z-

Thailand must be pretty decent....Dennis James I think lives there.
Frickin' Hot and humid though.
Maybe Canada? I hear personal use "goodies" are ok there...lol.

Sorry, you'll have to go to Thailand. Canada's laws are much the same as the US. "Personal use" amounts are still illegal here as well. We're in the same boat I'm afraid.

natedogg · 08-02-2005, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -2z-

Thailand must be pretty decent....Dennis James I think lives there.
Frickin' Hot and humid though.
Maybe Canada? I hear personal use "goodies" are ok there...lol.

Yeah, in prison there. Didn't he get busted for dealing Ecstasy? BTW, the article was bunk. In fact I pretty much stopped reading after he grouped aminos in with steroids and GH. "cough" moron "cough".

**shootmeagain** · 08-02-2005, 10:16 AM

Reminds me of when I was a kid and on Sesame Street they did the thing where they asked "Which of these things is not like the other...?"

LOL

doggzj · 08-02-2005, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arlowf

People like this almost got me expelled and put in Juvenille Prison during highschool. I hate, hate, hate these people. My life was a living hell because I had some leptigen in my locker.

Is there a country on this planet that doesn't give a **** what you have supplement/chemical wise? Anyone know which country has the most bodybuilder friendly laws?

Wow really? Not to open old wounds but this would definately be a story worth reading.

picasso · 08-02-2005, 01:38 PM

... Health@msnbc.com for reprinting it.

Superman13 · 08-02-2005, 08:55 PM

AMINO ACIDS?!?! HOLY **** WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!?!?! THEY CAN'T POSSIBLY BE INGESTING GLUTAMINE, OR GOD FORBID ARGININE!!! WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN??!?!?! WHAT! ABOUT! THE CHILDREN!!!!

What the hell do they expect teens to do? They want to be ripped for the ladies, and they want it fast. Teens are willing to use anything that promises fast results.

sholiz · 08-02-2005, 09:30 PM

I'm in H.S., I had 2lbs of protein in my locker for mid-day drinks and such -- well, that was $20 of protein that went to waste. I watched it get poured out since it was considered a "class 1 steroid in public schools".

Heh, nice -- eh? Don't ask about the kid that had CREATINE in his locker either, he was suspended and kicked out of sports for 1 season (it was fall so he couldn't do any winter sports).

natedogg · 08-02-2005, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sholiz

I'm in H.S., I had 2lbs of protein in my locker for mid-day drinks and such -- well, that was $20 of protein that went to waste. I watched it get poured out since it was considered a "class 1 steroid in public schools".

Come again? You're joking right? What backwards part of the country are you from? Oh wait...

UnicronSpawn · 08-02-2005, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sholiz

I'm in H.S., I had 2lbs of protein in my locker for mid-day drinks and such -- well, that was $20 of protein that went to waste. I watched it get poured out since it was considered a "class 1 steroid in public schools".

Heh, nice -- eh? Don't ask about the kid that had CREATINE in his locker either, he was suspended and kicked out of sports for 1 season (it was fall so he couldn't do any winter sports).

Thats the most preposturous thing Ive heard since........well......since I read the article were talking about. Pouring out protien powder? Suspending kids for creatine? Class 1 steroid? Dont they have dictionaries in school anymore? Maybe you should show them one. Im sorry but anyone who thinks protien or creatine are steroids is dumber then a sack of rocks, and IMO has no bussines trying to teach anything in any establishment with the tomarity to perpetuate the farce that they are in fact an educational facility. A class 1 steroid? give me a f**king break allready. Ive seen termite infested logs more qualified to educate a fellow human being. LOL!

davisville64 · 08-02-2005, 10:51 PM

I'll confess, I took creatine today

Lock me up

davisville64 · 08-02-2005, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sholiz

I'm in H.S., I had 2lbs of protein in my locker for mid-day drinks and such -- well, that was $20 of protein that went to waste. I watched it get poured out since it was considered a "class 1 steroid in public schools".

Heh, nice -- eh? Don't ask about the kid that had CREATINE in his locker either, he was suspended and kicked out of sports for 1 season (it was fall so he couldn't do any winter sports).

I've been caught twice with creatine. Luckally, the principal I was sent to both times happens to be both my football coach and was the one who gave me advice to start creatine. MUHAHAHAAH