Published in "Letters to the Editor" section of the January 17, 2005 issue of Newsweek magazine.

Your Dec. 20 cover story, "Steroids and Kids," brought attention to the widespread of use of steroids among our youth.  While the article clearly sounded the alarm, it failed to point out that help is now on the way to stem this growing tide of steroid use. Three years ago The Endocrine Society assembled a group of partners to address the problem of steroid use among children and developed a strategy to deal with this increasing problem.  With the help of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, we identified the two science-based programs that work: ATLAS (Athletes Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids) for boys and ATHENA (Athletes Target-ing Healthy Exercise and Nutrition Alternatives) for girls.  These two programs have been found to effectively reduce performance-enhancing drug and supplement use among teens.  Also, the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of  2004, which we strongly supported, oulaws dangerous steroid precursors that were easily obtained in stores.  Most important to prevention, the bill provides $15 million per year to educate our youth through science-based programs such as ATLAS and ATHENA.

Anthony Means,

President The Endocrine Society,

Duke University