By Staff
Coaching Management, 9.8, November 2001, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/cm/cm0908/bbsupplementrise.htm
After years of steady decline among NCAA athletes, the use of performance-enhancing substances by both teenage and college-age athletes appears to have increased recently, according to two surveys released this past summer. Both surveys, however, indicated that the increases were small and that those who use banned or questionable substances remain a small minority. The substances asked about in the surveys included both nutritional supplements and banned substances such as anabolic steroids and ephedrine.
The results regarding college athletes come from the 2001 edition of the "NCAA Study of Substance Use Habits of College Student-Athletes," which the NCAA research staff has conducted every four years since 1985. Data about younger people comes from a random telephone survey done by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's Healthy Competition Foundation, which encourages athletes to compete without the use of performance-enhancing substances.
In the NCAA survey, use of anabolic steroids showed a slight increase to 1.4 percent, after declining from 4.9 percent in 1989 to 1.1 percent in 1997. Amphetamine use continued to increase, from 3.1 percent in 1997 to 3.3 percent in 2001, as did ephedrine use (3.5 percent in 1997 to 3.9 percent in 2001).
Among football players, 3.0 percent of those surveyed by the NCAA reported using anabolic steroids, up from 2.2 percent in 1997 but well below the 9.7 percent of 1989. Amphetamine use was reported by 4.2 percent of football players, as compared to 2.1 percent in 1997 and 3.6 percent in 1989. Ephedrine use among football players, at 3.4 percent, was down from 5.3 percent in 1997, the first time NCAA researchers had asked about the substance.
When asked why they use supplements, 27.3 percent of surveyed student-athletes said it was to improve athletic performance. Other top responses included suppressing appetite or losing weight (19.7 percent) and improving their appearance (18.8). Similar reasons were given for using anabolic steroids and amphetamines, but ephedrine users were a little more likely to list improved appearance (20.3) and appetite suppression (21.7) as their main reason for use.
NCAA researchers also asked student-athletes who had stopped using nutritional supplements why they quit. Nearly one-third (29.7 percent) indicated "No desire to get the effect," and another 15.9 percent reported health concerns as the reason they quit. Only 1.4 percent cited fear of losing eligibility and 0.7 percent cited coaches' rules as their motivation.
The source of these substances varied greatly by type. A majority of student-athletes (58.7 percent) reported stores as their main source of nutritional supplements, but stores were the main source reported by only 15 percent of those using anabolic steroids. The most-cited source of anabolic steroids was a friend or relative (19 percent). Other sources included a physician other than their team physician (15 percent), a coach (8.5 percent), and an athletic trainer (4.3 percent). Coaches (4.8 percent) and athletic trainers (4.5 percent) were also listed as sources for nutritional supplements.
Among football players surveyed, use of what the NCAA researchers call "social drugs" increased minimally for all types except smokeless tobacco: Alcohol, 76.2 percent in 2001 compared to 75.2 percent in 1997; cocaine, 1.8, 1.6; marijuana or hashish, 27.3, 25.8; smokeless tobacco, 28.9, 30.3; psychedelics or hallucinogens, 4.8, 3.9.
Meanwhile, in a broader survey, one in five Americans ages 12 to 17 know someone who takes sports supplements to enhance his or her athletic performance or appearance, according to the Healthy Competition Foundation survey. That projects to approximately one million young people, according to the foundation. The survey also found that 96 percent of the 785 young people surveyed in July said they were aware of the potential for health damage. In addition, two percent of respondents ages 10 to 14 have taken performance-enhancing substances. In a similar 1999 survey, no respondents younger than 14 had taken them.
The most common substances cited were creatine, at 57 percent, and steroids, at 31 percent. Thirty percent of the surveyed youth said they first heard about the substances from friends, and 24 percent from advertising.
The Healthy Competition study results are in line with the NCAA survey, which found that the use of performance-enhancing substances mostly starts in high school. Among college users of nutritional supplements, 57.3 percent of respondents said they first used them in high school. For 58 percent of respondents, first use of ephedrine came in high school. The numbers were a little lower for amphetamines (46.2) and anabolic steroids (41.8).