What price performance?

The Higuchi Biosciences Center and the Drug Information Center at Kansas University want folks to know that thousands of school children are involved in an experiment using performance-enhancing drugs. Too bad nobody’s supervising it.

Americans of all ages want to bring home gold medals, but some rely on more than their natural talents and endless training.

Use of performance-enhancing drugs is on the rise  especially among the young. Why? Reasons include better performance in sports, bigger muscles and better looks.

The side effects of steroids are well-known. They include aggression, cardiovascular disease and, in adolescence, impaired growth.

There are few studies on the side effects of the supplement creatine, but it’s been known to cause cramps, dehydration and nausea. Kidney damage is also possible.

That’s quite a list when you consider that youths can buy creatine without a prescription.

Last July, a survey indicated that about a million children nationwide had taken performance-enhancing supplements or drugs. The survey, by Blue Cross/Blue Shield, estimated that nearly 400,000 children ages 10 to 14 had done so.

Parents, know this: Four out of five children surveyed had not talked with their folks about taking the supplements.