Some PE teachers and coaches are encouraging young rugby players to take muscle-building supplements and even selling them to pupils, according to new research. Could it lead to doping or addiction? Should teachers be doing it?
Prof Susan Backhouse
Director of research at Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, who carried out the study
No. Teachers set the tone for young people and supplements have been identified as a potential risk factor for doping and addiction. As many as one in five of some types of these supplements have been found to be tainted with banned substances. If a tainted supplement is used, a schoolboy could register a positive doping test. We should be promoting a “food-first” approach. If we don’t, young people might become reliant on supplementation and, in turn, neglect their diets. Our research was supported by the Rugby Football Union and we surveyed 771 schoolboys between the ages of 16-19 and 135 teachers. We also interviewed 25 schoolboys and five teachers. Schoolboy rugby players were twice as likely to use protein supplements and spent more time in the gym. It may be that teachers buying protein supplements in bulk and selling to students are doing so to protect the students from products that have not gone through risk minimisation processes. Or, it may be that they themselves are misguided. Either way, we need to better support teachers – and students – to navigate this minefield.
Steve Coleman
Personal trainer, who trains amateur rugby players
Protein provides the building blocks for muscle and in a sport such as rugby, where speed, strength and explosive power are needed, protein is essential. It is also essential to aids recovery. Protein supplements are a great way to get additional protein.
Protein supplements have their place in sport and fitness and, in fact, I take them in my hectic life as a personal trainer, but only to supplement, not replace, whole foods. However, when it comes to adolescents then coaches should be educating them about diet and how best to get the vitamins and proteins they need from whole foods. I think this will promote healthy choices and habits, and a healthy lifestyle. When they are older they should then be able to make their own informed and educated decisions about supplements.
Ben Pollard
RFU rugby coach and PE teacher at Heathfield community college, East Sussex
Supplements should be a last resort, to be used only once all natural nutritional strategies have been explored. Too often I have heard of or spoken to young athletes who are taking supplements, who also have a poor diet. This is completely counterproductive. I would suggest that schoolteachers should consider discussing such products with their students only after a stringent review of their diet, or any new nutrition plans, and whether they are getting what they need out of it.
Harry Lightfoot
Cornwall Rugby under-20s team
I didn’t take any supplements until I reached 18 last year and I rarely use them now, just an occasional protein shake if I can’t get home to eat. The PE teachers at school didn’t encourage us to take them, in fact they didn’t talk about nutrition at all. Supplements weren’t even covered in my sport BTec course. I don’t think teachers should be encouraging them. My father explained nutrition to me and we eat food made from scratch, not ready meals. I know a lot of young players do use supplements regularly but I would rather do it through whole food, though it can be challenging. I have been weight training and developing my fitness since I was 15 and if there is one thing I’ve learned it is that your diet is an even bigger factor than training.
Simon Russell
Director of school and community sport, Swavesey Village college, Cambridgeshire, and board member of the Association for Physical Education
When working with teenage athletes we always have to consider our recommendations carefully. As a leader in physical education, I would certainly avoid recommending dietary supplements.
I believe strongly that a good balanced diet will provide the correct nutrition. A teenage rugby player encouraged to take supplements might not have the skeletal frame to support a new build and potentially cause long-term damage. Secondly, if these dietary supplements do not have the desired effect, where would this stop? Students need to be regularly educated on the importance of a balanced diet and how this can be accomplished throughout the week.
