The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) has grown increasingly concerned about various state governments attempting to restrict the sale of dietary supplements, including creatine, to children and adolescents.
According to ISSN, creatine is a naturally occurring compound found in every cell in the human body that plays a critical role in cellular metabolism. The daily turnover of creatine is about 2 to 4 g daily depending on muscle mass and physical activity levels.
“In the cells, creatine changes into phosphocreatine, a compound vital in maintaining cellular energy availability, particularly during metabolically stressful conditions like intense exercise, periods of injury or illness, and some metabolic diseases with applications for diverse populations across a wide age range,” ISSN said.
ISSN said creatine is essential to promote normal energy metabolism, healthy growth and maturation in children and adolescents. Low dietary creatine intake has been associated with slower growth, less muscle mass and higher body fat.
“Adolescents have been reported to consume lower than recommended amounts of creatine in the diet. Despite common misconceptions, creatine has a well-supported safety profile and has been repeatedly shown to be safe, even with long term supplementation,” ISSN said.
Additionally, there is no evidence that purchasing or taking creatine supplement causes adverse health effects or increases the likelihood of eating disorders or use of performance-enhancing drugs, ISSN said. Conversely, people who take creatine are interested in improving health, exercise performance, graining muscle mass and improving physique. Creatine has also been shown to be safe and beneficial in pediatric disorders such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
ISSN criticized the recent age restriction legislation as “not based on scientific evidence.” It added legislators and lobbyists should base laws on “available science, not speculation, unfounded hypotheses or politics.”
“These false claims and reckless speculation regarding the dangers of creatine supplementation may discourage the use of creatine by minors, parents of minors and health care professionals from recommending creatine supplementation, a nutrient that offers a plethora of health and performance-related benefits for all populations,” ISSN said. “This may further reduce the availability of creatine in children’s and adolescents’ diets, impairing growth and maturation and negatively impacting the development of a healthy body composition.”
For more information, visit www.sportsnutritionsociety.org.
