1 in 4 Youth Athletes Report Performance Enhancing Substance Use.

In a recent study it was reported that 25.8% of young athletes in Quebec indicated that they used one of more substances from an IOC prohibited and/or restricted list of performance-enhancing drugs in the past 12 months.

The top five substances listed were:

• Recovery Drinks (49.4%)
• Chocolate (34.1%)
• Vitamin Supplements (26.5%)
• Coffee (16.)%)
• Creatine (11.5%)

These were followed by alcohol (11.4%) and marijuana (7.7%). Performance enhancers such as Anabolic Steroids (1.0%), Growth Hormones (1.2%) and Erythropoiuetin (0.8%) were reported with much lower than others.

What does this mean? Should we be educating our youth on the dangers of performance enhancing drugs more that we already do? Do we need to consider the additional social pressures they are receiving about these substances? Numerous studies can be found indicating high levels of medication and drug use amongst athletes, the following examples are from the SIRC Collection are listed below.

ReferencesGoulet, Claude; Valois, Pierre; Buist, André; Côté, Mélanie. Predictors of the Use of Performance-Enhancing Substances by Young Athletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 20(4):243-248, July 2010.

Grossbard J, Hummer J, LaBrie J, Pederson E, Neighbors C. Is Substance Use a Team Sport? Attraction to Team, Perceived Norms, and Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among Male and Female Intercollegiate Athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology . July 2009;21(3):247-261.

Smith A, Stewart B, Oliver-Bennetts S, et al. Contextual influences and athlete attitudes to drugs in sport. Sport Management Review. August 2010;13(3):181-197.

Solberg H, Hanstad D, Thøring T. Doping in elite sport - do the fans care? Public opinion on the consequences of doping scandals. International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship. April 2010;11(3):185-199.

Tscholl P, Alonso J, Dollé G, Junge A, Dvorak J. The Use of Drugs and Nutritional Supplements in Top-Level Track and Field Athletes. American Journal of Sports Medicine . January 2010;38(1):133-140.