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Subscribe to RSSAccording to a new report, the quest for the perfect body is putting more boys at risk than ever. Experts say that extreme weight-lifting and calorie-counting is on the rise in boys as young as 14, which could interfere with their development. NBC's Rehema Ellis reports.
All those glossy magazine ads showing men – and women – with bulging muscles may be having a big impact on America’s youth. In a new study of 2,793 teens from 20 urban middle and high schools, more than 90 percent of boys and 80 percent of girls said they were exercising to become more buff.
If exercise was the only method kids were using to pump up their muscles, it wouldn’t be a problem. But a large number of American teens are also using protein powders and other methods to help them bulk up, researchers reported. And even more concerning, almost 6 percent of boys and 5 percent of girls were turning to steroids to achieve the toned up look they craved, according to the study published Monday in Pediatrics.
What’s troubling, the researchers say, is the possibility that as they grow older, more and more teens will turn to unhealthy methods to muscle up.
“If they’re interested in developing muscle at 13, 14, and 15, what are they going to be doing at 18 or 20?” says the study’s lead researcher Marla Eisenberg, an assistant professor in pediatrics in the division of Adolescent Health and Medicine at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. “Are they going to be doing something more dangerous?”
The researchers were surprised at the number of girls who were hoping to bulk up. That certainly signals a change in what American teens see as the ideal female body.
“The ideal figure for women for a long time was very thin,” Eisenberg says. “Now more and more we’re seeing images of women who are not just slender, but also have toned shoulder and arms. They’re very fit looking.”
For the new study, Eisenberg and her colleagues surveyed adolescents from 20 middle schools and high schools in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area of Minnesota. The teens, whose average age was nearly 14 and a half (14.4), were asked to fill out a 235-item questionnaire.
The questionnaire looked at attitudes and behaviors relating to weight and appearance.
Particularly telling were the answers to this question:
“How often have you done each of the following things in order to increase your muscle size or tone in the past year? (a) Changed my eating (b) Exercised more (c) Used protein powder or shakes (d) Used steroids (e) Used another muscle building substance (such as creatine, amino acids, hydroxyl methylbutyrate, DHEA, or growth hormone).”
The possible answers were: never, rarely, sometimes, often.
More than two thirds of boys said they had changed the way they ate to muscle up, while more than 90 percent said they were exercising to add muscle, 40.9 percent saying they did this often. Similarly, nearly two thirds of girls said they’d changed their diets and more than 80 percent girls said they were exercising to tone their muscles.
Among the boys, 34.7 percent were consuming protein powders or shakes, 5.9 percent reported using steroids, and 10.5 percent said they were using some other muscle enhancing substance. That’s compared to 21.2 percent of girls using protein powders or shakes, 4.6 percent taking steroids, and 5.5 using some other muscle enhancing substance.
Those numbers concern Dana Rofey, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Weight Management and Wellness at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“I am quite surprised at the prevalence of protein powders and shakes and steroid use,” Rofey says.
While it’s good that young people are trying to get in shape, there could be a dark side to all this bulking up if kids take it too far, Rofey says.
A study like this should serve as a warning call to parents, she adds.
“I always tell my patients’ parents, you can never underestimate your role in terms of role modeling,” she explains. “I have two young daughters myself. Sometimes I have to stop and explain to them why I’m working out. Why I’m doing all those ab exercises.
"You need to talk openly with them about the importance of being healthy and of not doing fad kinds of things to look a certain way.”
For her part, Eisenberg hopes that people will understand that fitness is a good thing, but you have to achieve it through healthy means.
“We definitely don’t want to be taken as trying to send the message that exercise or eating in a certain way is bad,” Eisenberg says. “There are many good things that go along with those behaviors, such as general fitness and health. We’re concerned that when achieving a certain physical appearance is the driving force, those good behaviors might give way to less healthy ones in the future.”
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The tone of this is kind of bizarre. We're supposed to be worried that teens (girls, even!) want to have muscles instead of being rail-thin? And we are to panic because they are using--gasp!--PROTEIN POWDER?!?
Aside from those using steroids and other questionable supplements, this all strikes me as a good thing.
We live in a world where middle-schoolers are developing diabetes and high blood pressure, consuming insane amounts of junk food, and looking up to unnaturally skinny models and celebrities. That more teens are aspiring to a fit physique and drinking protein shakes instead of Coca-Cola is a rare bright spot in adolescent health trends if you ask me.
I've been lifting weights for almost 30 years. I wouldn't get too worked up over the information in this article because most people, especially today's teens, quit within weeks of starting. Let's say 100 people join a gym on the first day of a new year. By the end of the first month more than half will be gone. By the end of the second month half of the remaining half will be gone and on it goes until pretty much everyone has quit by June. On average, out of a 100 new members, maybe two people will still be there by the end of the first year and even this number might be an exaggeration. The teens are usually the first to quit.
They're just not that motivated at their young ages. They get fed up with making the effort as they quickly realize that even if the drugs help they won't do that which they really want the drugs to do which is lift the weight for them. They get easily distracted by life and at their age life is always changing, there is always something else to do. The drugs and/or supplements are expensive and they get tired of the regimen of having to mix or inject or swallow or whatever. For 99% of teens, working to get "buff" is nothing more than a phase that ends within weeks.
Best comment yet. I see the same cycle every January at my gym, with one small exception. The overweight young are the very first to quit, usually within a week to 10 days, then teens in general, then the overweight crowd are all gone by the end of February. Those of us that show up for class, rain or shine, have the whole place to ourselves until about 3 weeks before the pools open around Memorial Day. After Memorial Day we have the gym until the next January 1st. Being 62 years old I have to say, the whole thing is as constant as the changing seasons.
HUH, I look at today's youth and I say they are trying to bulk up there belly's, to be sumo wrestlers. DON'T LISTEN TO THIS LARD A$$. Lift weights exercise get outside. Be a doing person not a criticizing person.
Sounds like you could take your own advice.
This article gives me great optimism for today's teens and pessimism for this idiot writer. Lifting weights is the best exercise possible for teens both male and female, changing to a healthier diet is great, protein powders can have a healthy place in a diet, and there's nothing wrong with taking amino acids, though their effacacy is questionable. Taking anything too far is problematic, as are creatines and other fringe substances, and of course steroids are dangerous, but I loved reading about this healthy trend rather than the obesity epidemic.
You go kids! What a way to take back the obesity crisis. I personally see nothing wrong with wanting to workout, lift weights, and possibly take some supplements with good judgement. My 8 year old daughter is already lifting light weights and exercising. She wants to look fit. We need to do something as a society to reverse this obesity trend. Maybe this is a step in the RIGHT direction.
So, NBC spends years telling us how many kids are obese or overweight, now that these kids are actually doing something positive to change that and get in shape, there's a problem with it. Of course, the kids are never alright, everything is for the children and we have to ban advertising using good looking models and get fat, ugly, NOW-approved slags to advertise products that are supposed to make you look better. That's the underlying message here. You want to know how to make teenage boys stop or never start taking steroids? Just tell them it makes your dick get smaller. They'd all stop the day after that report came out.
Kids, lift light weights at an early age...Learn the proper technique and that will ready you for the heavier stuff when you growth platelets mature. Use Whey protein, but do not live on it..Make your lazy Mother prepare you meals and tell them that doesn't mean stopping at a fast food place. These so called physicians who put their two cents worth in this article (because that's what it is worth) get off of these kids and let them be healthy and look good.. I am a personal trainer and have worked with several kids in the past... they are awesome. This helps them with self-esteem, builds character and helps to understand what commitment is all about.... Steroids my ass.....
When I was an athlete in H.S., there were only a handful or less of high school athletes that seriously used weights to enhance their athletic skills (myself being one of the few). I did it without drugs and only worked out to enhance my athletic skills -- not to impress the girls or be Best Beach Body. Moreover, in the mid to late 70s, it was rare to even see a real body builder walking around. Now, they are a dime a dozen. Why? Ego. I travel the U.S. to work on projects and have visited more than a few fitness centers over the years. I always ask, randomly, if the person ever played sports in H.S. (football or wrestling).....9 out of 10 never even played Tittly Winks in High School (LOL, not because they have no clue of the game either). It's like a real biker ridinng down the road (in the rain) and spotting someone cleaning their Harley inside the garage (cause of dust). Posers! Nothing but Posers!
Ironboot1....Number 1...bodybuilders are NOT a dime a dozen.....Lawyers are. I am a 57 year old bodybuilder, still competing and I have never done this for my ego...Never...I do it because I love it.. Iron Bro, I know there are those like you describe, but trust me, there are more like me than you would imagine. I feel better than I did when I was 27 and I look better. Please don't give the true bodybuilders to much crap and basically we are a kind, giving group... My guess is that you have never tried the preparation for a bodybuilding contest...I dare you. Plus I wipe the dust of my stuff as well. I am a poser as well, I just do it on the stage. Peace.
I know I don't have the guts to prep for a competition, lol. It's a hard thing, plus, my karate instructor would KILL my ass for missing that many sessions and packing on that much muscle (robs you of speed and flexibility).
To each his own sir... but I don't miss my sessions either. I'm not sure why you think flexibility would be at risk... I'm very flexible..Speed, now Bro that's another story...I only run when I am out of ammunition.
Well, I've seen guys that were really big and muscular but also fast with their hands and feet, but think about it, I'd put money on it that Lyoto Machida can punch and kick MUCH faster than someone Brock Lesnar's size. That's really what I'm thinking about is speed for a fight. Not arguing that you don't need strength because I do train with weights, I'm just saying that the huge amount of muscle mass, while it looks really effin' cool can get a little awkward in the cage.
There is absolutely nothing new in this "study". How many body building magazines were sold in the 50's?
I would rather see them lifting weights than sitting around playing video games!
Kids, I am a personal trainer and have worked with several....they are awesome to work with...Loved them all. Lift light weights until you growth platelets mature and then go for it... Use Whey Protein, but don't live on it.. Make you lazy Mother cook for you.... That doesn't mean stopping at a fast food place and bringing it home.. Weight training boosts self esteem, builds character, helps to understand commitment and a lifestyle change... It also helps to build the mind-muscle connection and makes them realize that they can achieve their goals, whatever they may be, with a goal, hard work, patience, gratitude and humility. So, to the so-called physicians who put their two cents in this article, (that's about what its worth) get off of these kids...Is high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes better....Steroids my a$&.
People seem to be confusing getting buff with one trying to stay in shape. In addition, there is a whole lot of stuff between your child being a fat nasty slob and being buff. I think children at this age trying to become "buff" is unsettling, especially for the maturing girls and all that entails. I fear that soon we are going to hear about how this buff thing has gotten way out of hand. It seems that today, folks always have to push that envelope and go the extreme and I believe that is exactly what is going to happen with these kids. What ever happened to just playing sports and riding your bike or walking and eating properly?
Don't read beauty magazines...They will only make you feel-ugly.
Buff up you chest male or femal, need to understand, it's a long life time commitment.
Look at those people did that when they were young, then their life style change with bz schedule. They would give up their exercise, then their chest start sagging down. Look around, you will see lot of guys with sagging boobs, they would need bras, not a good site to see. Think twice!
Let me guess qteo...Yours are sagging now....Maybe you see should Kramer and get yourself a "Bro". Their boobs (the guys that is) aren't sagging from the lack of workouts.. They're sagging from estrogen you idiot. From eating bull@!$%#.
"while more than 90 percent said they were exercising to add muscle"
Who the heck did they survey, kids in sports only? The football and volleyball teams?
There's no way 90% are exercising to add muscle. Unless they were responding to "xbox" hand.....beefing up their wrists for Halo marathon matches.
I have lost all respect for this news agency. This article is proof that the person(s) writing it did not do any research whatsoever. Creatine is not a steroid and neither are powdered supplements. Steroids are synthetic hormones, and they are not "supplements"
Creatine is found in meats, so if one were to assume that the idiot who wrote this article is correct, then everyone except vegans have taken steroids in their lifetime.
Did you read the article carefully? Where in the article does it state that powered supplements and creatine are steroids? Even my low level reading comprehension was able to ascertain that the article listed both items out separately (by commas) and no where does it state that these products are steroids or a type of steroid.
"(e) Used another muscle building substance (such as creatine, amino acids, hydroxyl methylbutyrate, DHEA, or growth hormone"
"I am quite surprised at the prevalence of protein powders and shakes and steroid use,”
Statements such as these, without any sort of contextual information, essentially lump safe creatine in with unsafe supplementation or steroids to any lay reader.
Damn you kids. Put down the weights and pick up a Big Mac. We have an economy to boost and you're selfishly wanting to get strong and healthy!
For get that, buy a Twinkie before they are all off the shelves!
Oh yeah put down those weights, grab some "McDiabetes" and sit in front of the Xbox, yeah thats a good message for todays already morbidly obese generation (sarcasm)
On a cold Friday afternoon, I had come home from school. I had been thinking of the gym all day. I was hungry, didn't have any lunch. In fact, I didn't eat because I spent the money. For the past month I was saving up for something. Something special which I bought at GNC. I was surprised they didn't ask for ID; I was pretty sure the cashier noticed how nervous I was. Anyways, my mom asked my how my day was when I got home, but I ignored her. I have more important things to do. I run to the bathroom and unpack my bag. In my school bag is a white plastic bag from GNC. I open the bag, first removing the receipt and flushing it down the toilet to get rid of the evidence. My heart was racing now. I unpack the creatine monster from the bag.
I wonder what people will be asking me when they see that I will be 50lbs heavier. Should I say I was just eating a lot? I remove the label from the tub and tear it into a thousand small pieces. I flush that down the toilet, too. It is time now. I run up to my room when my mom ask me what I am holding. I panic, sweat drips down my forehead and my teeth chatter. "Mom, it's just for a school project". "What project?" "I don't know mom I just started it!". A tear runs down my cheek. I run upstairs and open the creatine, scooping upservings into a clear water bottle. What have I gotten myself into? I fill it with water and drink it. There is no turning back now. The creatine monster is inside me now, it will control me. What should I do if I die? I cant let my family know about this.
I open the creatine tub and throw it all out the window; a white cloud of mysterious dust sparkles into the wind so graciously. I feel the substance taking control of me; I am now the monster. I walk downstairs, its time to work out; time to get big. Now I worry, I don't want to get too big; people will think I use steroids. I do use steroids. No I don't. Creatine. All I see is the weights now, I am almost downstairs when I hear "Do you want a cookie I just baked". I know I do not have time for this **** now. "No mom I do not want a cookie" I walk in the basement and drop to my knees before the weights, tears running down my cheeks. I turn to the right and look at myself in the mirror. Oh god, what have I done?
What's troublig is that she did the study in one location of teh country, Minnesota. This is so far away from mainstream America that you have to find it with a map. If she included Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Miami then yes she could say with inference, the teens of America. My sampling represents the four regions of the US (SW, NW, Central N, Central S, NE, and SE).
My goodness, are researchers becoming as lazy as the media? If so, this country is in one sorry mess.
On a cold Friday afternoon, I had come home from school. I had been thinking of the gym all day. I was hungry, didn't have any lunch. In fact, I didn't eat because I spent the money. For the past month I was saving up for something. Something special which I bought at GNC. I was surprised they didn't ask for ID; I was pretty sure the cashier noticed how nervous I was. Anyways, my mom asked my how my day was when I got home, but I ignored her. I have more important things to do. I run to the bathroom and unpack my bag. In my school bag is a white plastic bag from GNC. I open the bag, first removing the receipt and flushing it down the toilet to get rid of the evidence. My heart was racing now. I unpack the creatine monster from the bag.
I wonder what people will be asking me when they see that I will be 50lbs heavier. Should I say I was just eating a lot? I remove the label from the tub and tear it into a thousand small pieces. I flush that down the toilet, too. It is time now. I run up to my room when my mom ask me what I am holding. I panic, sweat drips down my forehead and my teeth chatter. "Mom, it's just for a school project". "What project?" "I don't know mom I just started it!". A tear runs down my cheek. I run upstairs and open the creatine, scooping upservings into a clear water bottle. What have I gotten myself into? I fill it with water and drink it. There is no turning back now. The creatine monster is inside me now, it will control me. What should I do if I die? I cant let my family know about this.
I open the creatine tub and throw it all out the window; a white cloud of mysterious dust sparkles into the wind so graciously. I feel the substance taking control of me; I am now the monster. I walk downstairs, its time to work out; time to get big. Now I worry, I don't want to get too big; people will think I use steroids. I do use steroids. No I don't. Creatine. All I see is the weights now, I am almost downstairs when I hear "Do you want a cookie I just baked". I know I do not have time for this **** now. "No mom I do not want a cookie" I walk in the basement and drop to my knees before the weights, tears running down my cheeks. I turn to the right and look at myself in the mirror. Oh god, what have I done?
you want kick fuks?
Hmm, sarcasm maybe? Because creatine mono is nothing but water weight. For the feeling you've described, you would need a strong PWO (pre-workout) containing nitric oxide. Which, by the way is perfectly safe if you follow the dosing instructions. Also, creatine is naturally occuring in the body.
unawre/10
unaware/10
On a cold Friday afternoon, I had come home from school. I had been thinking of the gym all day. I was hungry, didn't have any lunch. In fact, I didn't eat because I spent the money. For the past month I was saving up for something. Something special which I bought at GNC. I was surprised they didn't ask for ID; I was pretty sure the cashier noticed how nervous I was. Anyways, my mom asked my how my day was when I got home, but I ignored her. I have more important things to do. I run to the bathroom and unpack my bag. In my school bag is a white plastic bag from GNC. I open the bag, first removing the receipt and flushing it down the toilet to get rid of the evidence. My heart was racing now. I unpack the creatine monster from the bag.
I wonder what people will be asking me when they see that I will be 50lbs heavier. Should I say I was just eating a lot? I remove the label from the tub and tear it into a thousand small pieces. I flush that down the toilet, too. It is time now. I run up to my room when my mom ask me what I am holding. I panic, sweat drips down my forehead and my teeth chatter. "Mom, it's just for a school project". "What project?" "I don't know mom I just started it!". A tear runs down my cheek. I run upstairs and open the creatine, scooping upservings into a clear water bottle. What have I gotten myself into? I fill it with water and drink it. There is no turning back now. The creatine monster is inside me now, it will control me. What should I do if I die? I cant let my family know about this.
I open the creatine tub and throw it all out the window; a white cloud of mysterious dust sparkles into the wind so graciously. I feel the substance taking control of me; I am now the monster. I walk downstairs, its time to work out; time to get big. Now I worry, I don't want to get too big; people will think I use steroids. I do use steroids. No I don't. Creatine. All I see is the weights now, I am almost downstairs when I hear "Do you want a cookie I just baked". I know I do not have time for this **** now. "No mom I do not want a cookie" I walk in the basement and drop to my knees before the weights, tears running down my cheeks. I turn to the right and look at myself in the mirror. Oh god, what have I done?
unaware/10
researchfail
U should just be happy with yourself, so sad people are so insecure they need to workout. I'm 300 lbs and happy with myself and that's what really counts
Creatine, not even once
So, kids are exercising and you end it with this might lead to bad choices and emotional states in the future... horrible article.
wait... so it's BAD that girls are starting to become more interested in improving their body image through training, rather than through say eating disorders for example? It's a concern that young people in general are taking an interest in exercise when the adult population is obese, unhealthy and inactive?
That aside... the implication that there is anything wrong / dangerous / to be concerned about regarding taking protein powders is ridiculous and incorrect. And putting amino acids and creatine into the same category as growth hormone and steroids even more so.
A terrible article trying to put a bad spin on a positive situation using false implications.
Oh, yes, it's HORRIBLE. Don't you know girls have no business walking around with muscles? They need to get back to the elliptical machines, Barbie weights, and laxatives, STAT!
I am a parent with two middle-school aged boys. I am very aware of the pressue on young people to have the look and competative edge. My oldest is a very good athlete. His friend, who is a star football athlete, pressured my son to try steriods, creatine, and protein powders without my knowledge. When I approached the school coach about the problem he completely ignored it. His only concern was how it might affect his city championship. The supplements have definitely changed my sons personality. His grades have dropped from a 3.7 grade avg. to a 2.5 grade avg. in the last 10 months. I would think there is a correlation. Is it a problem in most schools. YES.
If your son is taking synthetic hormones (steroids), then yes you may see a personality change. However If taking creatine, and protein powder, you'll see no such effect. Protein powder is just that, .. protein. It has ONLY positive effects on you, even in young people. Creatine is naturally occuring in the body, and like protein, found in meat. All creatine does is pack on water weight, it won't alter ones personality, but could actually improve focus.
Along with what redshad12 said, I would consider that whatever pressure he felt under to artificially enhance his athletic performance is probably underlying his behavioral changes. It certainly isn't protein powder causing his grades to slip.