Steroid use quadruples as men seek ‘Love Island look’

STEROID use has quadrupled among young people in the past year, official data shows, fuelled by a rise in muscleconscious men.

Most drugs have declined in usage, with a handful increasing by a small percentage, the Home Office’s Crime Survey found.

The biggest rise in the use of anabolic steroids was among 16 to 24-year-olds, from 0.1 per cent of the population to 0.4 per cent, meaning an extra 19,000 have taken the drug in the past year.

Ian Hamilton, a lecturer in addiction at the University of York, said the figures were worrying.

He attributed the rise in part to doping in sport, but mainly to a changing conception of masculinity.

“In some ways young men have been catching up with young women over the last few years, they are more sensitive and vigilant about how they should look and this is becoming more acute,” Mr Hamilton said. “It is to do with appearance and masculinity, and the messages we absorb through social media.”

He said reality television shows such as Love Island were contributing to body obsession among young men.