EDUA 5546 Performance Enhancing Drugs
PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS AND THE ATHLETE
Research studies have estimated that more than 300,000 American teenagers try and/or regularly use illegal performance-enhancing steroids every year. This includes boys and girls hoping to improve their performance in sports or to transform their bodies to improve their body image. Although there can be some benefits to mild steroid use (muscle growth, increased leanness), the health dangers far outweigh these, especially for young people. These include stunted growth, heart conditions, liver damage, hair loss, and reproductive issues.
This course introduces the teacher or coach to the effects of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) on the human body and psychological functioning. It demonstrates how to talk with students to understand the motivations behind their steroid or other PED use, rather than simply employing "scare tactics." The use of legal performance enhancers (such as protein supplements) is also discussed. The teacher/coach will come away from this course knowing when and how to intervene to set students on a path to achieving their fitness goals in a safe and healthy way.