Children as young as TWELVE admit to sports doping and one-third of young athletes take diet supplements

  • Researchers have found athletes as young as 12 using performance drugs
  • About four per cent of junior athletes are doping while about 10 per cent believe their competitors using the drugs
  • A researcher claims the problem goes undetected due to a lack of testing

By RYAN LIPMAN

Published: | Updated:

Junior elite athletes as young as 12 are using performance-enhancing drugs to out perform their competitors, according to new research.

More than 900 athletes aged from 12 to 17 and competing at an elite junior-level were interview as part of the three-year study by Griffith University and the University of Canberra.

The research has found that about four per cent of junior athletes are doping to improve their performance or using image-enhancing drugs, reported the ABC.

Australian researchers have found athletes as young as 12 using performance drugs

Australian researchers have found athletes as young as 12 using performance drugs

With a third using nutritional supplements, about 10 per cent believe their competitors are performance-enhancing using drugs.

Based on the results, researchers are concerned doping among young athletes has risen over the last 10 years.


Report co-author, Dr Stephen Moston, from the University of Canberra, said not drug testing means doping can go undetected.

'The reality is young athletes aren't tested very often, and so they operate in a kind of vacuum where there is no real testing going on,' he said.

About four per cent of junior athletes are doping while about 10 per cent believe their competitors using the drugs

About four per cent of junior athletes are doping while about 10 per cent believe their competitors using the drugs

'This obsession at a very early age of being spotted and noticed in a particular sport, so you make the cut for elite teams, it's all about the winning,' he said.

He said the emphasis on winning means sport among children now mirrored that if adults.

To fight doping, Dr Moston is calling for more education rather increased drug testing.

'Teaching athletes to be more moral, to think about the ethics of what he's actually doing,' he said.
 

Doping

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