According to researchers at the University of Minnesota, participation in sports with perceived or real weight requirements was found strongly associated with unhealthy weight control behaviors and teen steroid use.

According to a research published in an issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, approximately six percent males between the ages of 12-18 years participated in sports related to weight measurement inducing vomiting within a week before being surveyed.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Steroid use was reported in 6.8 percent of females who reported participating in weight-related sports, compared to 2.3 percent of those that weren’t active in a weight-related sport. Vomiting and using laxatives were also more likely in girls who were active in weight-related sports.

“The link between unhealthy weight-control behaviors and weight-related sports, especially in boys, is alarming,” said Marla Eisenberg, Sc.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School Department of Pediatrics. “Parents and coaches should emphasize skill and talent instead of weight and body image and educate teens about the negative health effects of steroid use and extreme weight control.”

Researchers surveyed over 4,500 middle and high school students from the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. The students were asked if they had engaged in self-induced vomiting, used diet pills or laxatives, or used steroids within the previous week and year.

It is important to note here that anabolic androgenic steroids are synthetic derivatives of testosterone, the male sex hormone, and are used to enhance muscle definition and improve sports performance.