Steroid use in teens and unhealthy weight control behaviors are commonly linked with sport participation where real or perceived weight specifications matter, as per researchers at the University of Minnesota.

Anabolic androgenic steroids that are synthetic derivatives of testosterone, the male hormone, are in great demand among professional sportsmen in order to improve the levels of performance, body strength, and muscle mass.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“It is encouraging to see that the majority of young people who reported using steroids in 1999 stopped using them as they got older,” said Patricia van den Berg, Ph.D., lead author of the study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. “But even given this decline, between one and three in 100 teens still reported using steroids within the last year when asked again 5 years later.”

Researchers conducted the longitudinal study with more than 2,000 adolescents to examine changes in eating patterns, weight, physical activity, and related factors over five years. Participants completed two surveys, one in 1999 and one in 2004, to determine if there were changes in steroid use.

Overall, 1.7 percent of boys and 1.4 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 23 reported steroid use in 2004. Those that reported use early on were 4 to 10 times more likely to use later in life.

It was remarked by Marla Eisenberg, Sc.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School Department of Pediatrics that the link between weight-related sports and unhealthy weight-control behaviors is alarming.