South African Stats

Research conducted among Grade 8-12 children during the course of 2009 – 2011 gleaned the following information. Initial research was conducted into the prevalence of supplement and/or steroid use among adolescent males, gathering information on the use and more importantly the motivation for use of these products. This research was conducted among male respondents only.

The level of body image dissatisfaction among respondents was categorised as mild, moderate or severe dissatisfaction with the body. Approximately 45% of the boys interviewed displayed moderate to severe dissatisfaction with their physique. An alarming 40% of the boys had used some form of supplement at least once during their school career, with 25.6% of the total respondents currently using a mass building supplement. Supplements were being consumed by 16.7% of the boys at least once a day. The highest consumption rate occurred among the Grade 12 (17-18 yr. old) boys at 34%, followed by Grade 11 at 25%; these two grades making up 59% of all the users in the study. It is interesting to note that after these two grades, the Grade 8 group (13-14yr olds) had the highest consumption at 16% of the boys. The largest group of consumers came from Grades 11&12 and it would be prudent to suggest that this is probably the most susceptible age for mass building supplement use. However, it would be negligent to overlook the prevalence of use among Grade 8 boys; this could well be an entry point into supplement use.

The most popular form of mass building supplement being used was the protein shake; only two respondents indicated that they were currently using Creatine. While 15% of supplement users prefer a combination of products, the most common brand being consumed was USN. Alarmingly, 2.3% of respondents had made use of Human Growth Hormone and another 2.3% of steroids.

As far as the motivation for mass building supplement use is concerned, 15.5% of users indicated that they were unsure as to their motivation for use, 39.4% indicated that a lean, muscular, toned body was their motivation and 45.1% indicated that they were ‘bulking-up’ for sporting purposes. Interestingly, Grade 12 boys indicated that they were bulking-up for the purpose of physique improvement yet the Grade 11 boys indicated predominantly that their use was connected to sporting prowess. It is important to note that 85% of the respondents who indicated moderate to severe levels of importance placed on their physical appearance were also using mass building supplements.

Further research was conducted to gather information on body image dissatisfaction as it correlates with feelings of depression and anxiety around the body image. While the age cohort of the respondents remained the same, both male and female adolescents formed the sample group. Our focus here revolves around male responses and as such they comprised 54.9% of the sample group.

On a scale of body image dissatisfaction, 11% of the male respondents reported moderate to severe levels. Anxiety at a moderate to severe level constituted 36.7% of the male respondents and levels of depression indicated moderate to severe feelings of depression among 16.4% of the male respondents.

When statistical analysis of the data gathered was conducted there was a strong positive correlation for males between their level of body image dissatisfaction and feelings of depression. These correlations suggest that higher levels of dissatisfaction with the body image are correlated with higher levels of depression among males.