Anabolic Steroids and the Adolescent Athlete

A major problem in both professional and elite amateur athletics is the misuse of anabolic steroids to increase muscle strength and/or muscle size. Their use is wide-spread among professional and college-level athletes, particularly in football players and weight lifters. These illicitly obtained drugs are readily available to athletes of almost any age, so pediatricians must be concerned about the abuse of these drugs among their patients.¹