- US children as young as 11 are taking illegal steroids
in a bid to achieve their dream of sporting or Olympic glory,
senators have been told.
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- Head of the US anti-doping agency, Terry Madden, told
a Senate committee people needed to be warned that steroid use was dangerous
to children's health.
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- The committee was told that more than 500,000 high school-age
children were estimated to be using steroids.
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- It comes as several athletes are facing an inquiry over
alleged steroid abuse.
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- Senator Charles Grassley said it was estimated some five
million people annually used the drugs "to improve athletic performance,
appearance and self-image".
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- Of that, 175,000 are estimated to be high school girls
and 350,000 are high school boys, he said.
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- 'Driven to suicide'
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- "Those same studies have shown that some users start
even younger, first using steroids while they are in middle school,"
said Mr Grassley, presiding at the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics
Control.
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- One father told how his 16-year-old son took steroids
after he was told to gain 20 pounds if he wanted to be a starting pitcher
in basketball. After he stopped taking the drugs, he suffered a depression
that drove him to suicide.
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- The hearing was told by Mr Madden that the availability
of steroid-based products was "currently effectively unregulated".
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- He described it as a "health crisis that affects
not just Olympic athletes, but every American teenager who dreams of becoming
a professional or Olympic athlete, and every consumer who takes one of
these products without being informed of the risks".
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- Mr Madden also called for uniform standards for testing
US amateur and pro athletes across all sports.
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- He said insufficient doping testing in some premier pro
sports leagues had given a perception to other countries that US athletes
routinely used illegal performance-enhancing substances.
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- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3892061.stm
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