The use of steroids among teenage girls is on a rampant rise with easy availability of steroids and the changing ideologies for staying ahead of the competition at all costs, as per results of a national survey published in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Adolescent girls reporting anabolic steroid use had significantly more other health-harming behaviors,” they continue. “They were much more likely to use other unhealthy substances, including past 30-day use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine.” Young female steroid users were also more likely to:

* have had sexual intercourse before age 13
* have been pregnant
* drink and drive or have ridden with a drinking driver
* carry a weapon
* have been in a fight on school property in the past year
* have feelings of sadness or hopelessness almost every day for at least two weeks
* have attempted suicide

More than two-thirds of the teen girls surveyed reported trying to change their weight. However, those who used steroids were more likely to turn to extreme weight-loss techniques, including vomiting and laxative use. “Anabolic steroids are body-shaping agents and cause a loss in body fat and an increase in lean tissue; therefore, their association with unhealthy weight loss practices was not surprising,” the authors write.

These findings have highlighted the fact that girls making use of steroids are more likely to receive less of attention than adolescent boys, perhaps reflecting that their actions are less socially.