NCAA Discourages Students From Using Creatine

WASHINGTON--The National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA) dissuaded schools from giving creatine to their athletes by instituting a new rule, taking effect on Aug. 1, that states thatinstitutions may provide "only non-muscle-building nutritional supplements." According to research presented at the joint meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies and the American Academy of Pediatrics, five percent of 1,000 students surveyed usecreatine.

Supplements such as carbohydrate-electrolyte sports drinks, energy bars, carbo boosters and vitamins and minerals will be permitted at school as energy boosters. Because creatine has not been proven unsafe, the NCAA is not including it on its banned substances list.

In related news, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's Healthy Competition Foundation released an educational paper warning about the potential health risks related tocreatine. For a copy of this paper, visit www.healthycompetition.org. For more information about the NCAA's guidelines, visitwww.ncaa.org.