Sports supplements use by teens: front-burner issue soon? Sports supplements use by teens: front-burner issue soon? (January 05, 2005)

** Sequoia superintendent to bring it up at principals' meeting

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

High-school sports can be a world apart, a place of fierce intensity with coaches, players and fans on a single-minded quest for victory.

A competitive edge can make all the difference, and it may be only natural for student athletes to risk harmful side-effects and emulate athletes in college and professional sports who turn to legal -- and sometimes illegal -- performance-enhancing supplements.

Such a scenario may seem more likely in Texas or Georgia, where high schools have built stadiums that seat thousands, but a 2004 survey of 500 California teens older than 14 found that 11 percent of boys and 5 percent of girls said they had taken such supplements or drugs. And over half of the boys and one-third of the girls said they knew someone who had done so.

Local high-school athletic directors say they haven't seen indications of a problem and thus haven't talked to students about it, but Pat Gemma, superintendent of the Sequoia Union High School District, says he plans to discuss it at the next principals' meeting.

It's a problem that needs to be addressed, says Roger Blake, an official at the California Interscholastic Federation, or CIF, which establishes high-school athletic standards in the state.

"Our coaches have got to be standing up in front of our athletes and talking about (performance-enhancing substances)," he says, including how to use them and how not to. "When coaches take that kind of stance, they will make a difference."

State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, recently re-introduced legislation that would create a list of dietary supplements banned specifically for student athletes and require coaches to attend classes on the dangers of such supplements; the bill passed the Legislature earlier this year, but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In the bill, the term "dietary supplement" refers to products "designed or marketed to improve athletic performance or physical development by promoting body or muscle growth ... above levels that would be anticipated under normal conditions with appropriate nourishment."

While Mr. Blake favors the education of coaches, he said the list of banned substances may be more trouble than it's worth.

"The fastest changing area in athletic competition isn't the (strategy), it's the chemistry," he says.

The CIF already has a drug education program for coaches, and some 18,000 coaches have been through it in the last five years, he says.
Local issue?

As a local issue, supplement use hasn't had much traction. "I just really don't see it as a problem here," says Pam Wimberly, the athletic director at Menlo-Atherton High School. She says she hasn't seen students exhibiting unusual size, speed or agility, nor has her staff expressed concern.

At Woodside High School, the varsity football team went undefeated this year after three consecutive losing seasons. "If they are using (supplements or steroids), they're probably not using them the right way," says athletic director Steve Nicolopulos, chuckling. "I don't have any kids that bulk up like that."

Both directors say they would address the issue if they learned of student use.

Superintendent Gemma says the district needs to question "our beliefs and assumptions" around student use and what is being done to detect and deter their use.

He says he plans to consult the Peninsula Athletic League, the Central Coast Section, and the California Interscholastic Federation.

Gordon Young, who heads the PAL, says he would not be shocked to discover use by local athletes, but says he is unaware of incidents in San Mateo County. He says he doesn't see why high schools can't use the National Collegiate Athletic Association's list of banned substances

Sen. Speier's bill does not mention drug testing, which can be expensive.
Athletes' views

The Almanac conducted an anonymous opinion sample of eight local high-school athletes and found little support for practices beyond exercise and a healthful diet.

"If you really love playing a sport, you shouldn't enhance yourself to do better, especially if you know you're already good at that sport," says a player on a girls' basketball team.

"There should be strict punishment because it's giving kids the wrong impression," says another girl.

"I don't think it's cool because it's cheating," says a player on a boys' basketball team.

"I've never had the desire to take any," says another boy, who admits that he and his father have talked about the "right age" to consider using supplements.
Another veto?

In September, the governor chose not to sign Sen. Speier's original bill, saying in his veto message that it inappropriately focused on dietary supplements rather than steroids, that "most dietary supplements are safe," and that they're already regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

But the FDA appears to provide something less than strong oversight. According to an FDA summary of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, dietary supplement manufacturers:

** Must be truthful and not misleading in product labeling. (FDA monitoring of truth-in-labeling relies on inspection reports by manufacturers and distributors, the Internet and consumer complaints.)

** Do not need FDA approval before producing or selling supplements. (The FDA "intends to issue regulations" on good manufacturing practices.)

** Are responsible for ensuring a supplement's safety before it is marketed. (The FDA can act on safety issues concerning existing products.)

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