The average age that a child begins taking dietary supplements is
10.8 years old. Few people realize that these products are unregulated
– that no one is verifying that what’s on the label of the container is
what is in that container. As a result, some are spiked with banned
substances like anabolic steroids, stimulants, and other contaminants.
Little League® parents, coaches and volunteers should be aware of the
prevalence of the use of anabolic steroids and other Appearance and
Performance Enhancing Drugs (APEDs) among today’s young athletes. Most
adults are unaware that so many of our children are either knowingly or
unknowingly ingesting drugs like these. That “there is no way that my
child would ever use APEDs.”
That’s exactly what the parents of former 16-year old Taylor Hooton
(former Little Leaguer®) thought. It wasn’t until he died just past his
17th birthday that they learned the truth about the APEDs that Taylor
and half of his high school baseball teammates had been using. Taylor’s
family formed The Taylor Hooton Foundation in his honor for the purpose
of raising awareness about the widespread use of these drugs and to let
adults and kids know how dangerous these drugs can be.
The Taylor Hooton Foundation is proud to offer one of our education
programs in partnership with Little League Baseball and Softball. This
30-minute eLearning course, hosted by Bob Costas, is a real eye-opener
for parents and is essential for every coach that is leading young
people in all age groups. Please visit the course at taylorhooton.org/llbtraining