New guidelines for healthcare professionals to address the use of muscle building supplements

In an effort to reduce the risks associated with the use of dietary supplements for muscle building among adolescents and young adults, a comprehensive set of guidelines has been introduced to assist healthcare professionals. These guidelines, published in the Journal of Adolescent Healthfocus on assessment and harm reduction strategies to better support young people using these readily available supplements.

Muscle building supplements such as whey protein and creatine monohydrate are widely used by adolescents and young adults, especially boys and young men, and are intended to improve muscle mass, strength and athletic performance.

Despite their popularity, there is a significant gap in guidance for health and mental health professionals on how to assess and manage potential risks associated with their use. The new guidelines aim to fill this gap by providing detailed recommendations on assessment, nutritional assessment, behavioral assessment, physical and mental health monitoring, harm reduction, and review of steroid use.

“Given the risks associated with them, we strongly encourage all health care and mental health professionals to ask their adolescent and young adult clients about the use of muscle-building supplements,” says Kyle T. Ganson, Ph.D., MSW, assistant professor and lead author of the guideline. “This includes assessing the type, frequency, dosage, and method of supplement use, as well as understanding the client’s motivations for and knowledge of the supplements.”

The authors advocate for comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments when adolescents and young adults report using muscle building supplements.

“It is critical to assess for other behaviors aimed at changing appearance, weight, shape, strength, and performance, as well as body image issues and the presence of eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, or muscle dysmorphia,” Ganson says. “Identifying adverse effects on physical, psychological, and social health, and ongoing monitoring, should be part of routine practice.”

The guidelines emphasize harm reduction.

“This approach involves open communication, understanding motivations, and psychoeducation,” Ganson says. “The goal is to provide strategies to reduce the negative effects associated with muscle building supplement use, while recognizing that abstinence may not be a realistic goal for all clients.”

Finally, the guidelines address the need to assess potential or current use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), given the connection between the use of muscle building supplements and future AAS use. Healthcare professionals are encouraged to provide education about the potential harms of AAS and further strategies to reduce risk.