Stories about doping - using performance-enhancing drugs - among professional and Olympic athletes have been regular fodder for the news media in recent years, but what about the trend in use by younger, more vulnerable high school-aged athletes?
A report released by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health finds that nearly 1 in 10 parents of high school athletes is aware of the use of performance-enhancing drugs by an athlete in their community. The poll also finds that most parents feel that schools - with minimal penalties to individual students - should be responsible for handling the problem.
"One in ten is a particularly high rate of use of performance-enhancing drugs by high school athletes," says Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the National Poll on Children's Health. "Risk of injury tends to be higher when athletes who engage in physical activity have greater muscle bulk due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs."
According to the poll, 75 percent of parents of high school athletes support random drug testing within the schools. However, only 43 percent feel that individuals who test positive should be reported to state agencies. Furthermore, though slightly more than one-half of parents have talked with their children about the dangers of P-E drug use, 97 percent believe that high school coaches should be required to communicate the dangers of P-E drugs to students.
"Parents may feel that high school coaches will be more effective in teaching the dangers of P-E drugs to high school athletes." Davis says. "Coaches lend a certain voice; the same person who is telling them to be competitive may also be compelling in getting them to understand the dangers they face if they choose to use [performance-enhancing drugs]."
Among parents of high school athletes, the National Poll on Children's Health finds: