The use of steroids among teen girls is not merely restricted to competitive athletics, as per results of a national survey published in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The survey results suggested that steroid use is associated with other health-endangering behaviors such as diet pills and smoking.

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.

Diane L. Elliot, M.D., of the Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, and colleagues examined use of anabolic steroids among teen girls from a nationally representative sample of U.S. high schools before disclosing results made after assessments.