OHSU, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED PARTNER TO PREVENT STEROID, DRUG USE AMONG TEEN ATHLETES

The award comes with a $1 million grant to fund four regional drug prevention and health promotion workshops in the United States. High school coaches and school officials who attend the workshops can learn how best to mentor and help their student-athletes.

Prior to the workshops, high schools can apply to be one of 16 “SI Schools.” Each SI School will implement OHSU’s ATLAS (Adolescents Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids) and ATHENA (Athletes Targeting Healthy Exercise and Nutrition Alternatives) in all sports programs beginning this fall. Sports Illustrated then will highlight the schools, teams’, coaches’ and students’ success throughout the year.

Once SI Schools have been selected, trainers from OHSU’s Division of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine will travel to each location to teach coaches how to run ATLAS and ATHENA, which will be part of the team’s usual practice activities. The programs primarily are taught by student squad leaders who use highly scripted lessons; coaches facilitate them. Topics covered are gender-specific and focus on healthy sports nutrition, effective exercise training, and the effects of drug use and other unhealthy behaviors on sport performance.

The $1 million grant also includes a year’s worth of public service announcements in Sports Illustrated, featuring ATLAS and ATHENA as national models. In addition, OHSU and Sports Illustrated will develop an SI School Web site that offers the latest in sports nutrition, training and drug prevention, and that fosters communication among athletic directors, coaches and young athletes.

Linn Goldberg, M.D., principal investigator of ATLAS, and Diane Elliot, M.D., principal investigator of ATHENA, will receive the Sports Illustrated Champion award at a national press conference in Washington, D.C. Goldberg and Elliot, professors of medicine (health promotion and sports medicine) in the OHSU School of Medicine, co-developed both programs.

ATLAS, initiated in 1993 through a five-year National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) grant, is the nation's first and only program proved to reduce the desire and use of anabolic steroids, sports supplements, alcohol and other illicit drugs among male adolescent athletes athletes. ATHENA, initiated in 1999 with another grant from NIDA, is the first and only program proved to reduce disordered eating, body-shaping drug use and other health-harming behaviors among female high school athletes.

ATLAS and ATHENA have been designated national models by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Schools in more than 30 states and Puerto Rico have implemented them. ATLAS also has been deemed a Model Program by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is one of only nine “Exemplary Programs” of the U.S. Department of Education’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

Related OHSU News Releases

• ATHENA is first to reduce drug use, eating disorders among female high school athletes
• National addiction consulting firm partners with OHSU to distribute materials designed to prevent steroid use and eating disorders among high school athletes throughout the country
• ATLAS and ATHENA are included in $15M drug prevention bill signed by President Bush, recommended for use in schools nationwide
• DHHS To Use Sports Team Education Program as National Model
• ATLAS: From Science to Service: Making a Model Program
• State of New Jersey Executive Order No. 72 by the Governor, to utilize programs such as ATLAS and ATHENA models for high school students.
• The President of the Endocrine Society letter states in letter to the Editor of Newsweek, that ATLAS and ATHENA have been found to effectively reduce performance-enhancing drug and supplement use among teens.

About Atlas & Athena Programs

Throughout ATLAS, young male athletes learn how alcohol, marijuana and other drugs can harm their sport performance and reduce the team’s chances to succeed. The program stresses how to use sports nutrition and strength training as healthy alternatives.

ATLAS was studied in more than 30 schools with support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). After using ATLAS, students believed they were better athletes, thought their teams were a better source of information, felt more vulnerable to the harm of steroids and had less desire to use steroids in the future. In addition, ATLAS trained students reported:

• A more than a 50 percent reduction in new use of anabolic steroids.
• Half the new use of alcohol and other illicit drugs (marijuana, amphetamines and narcotics).
• A 40 percent reduction in the use of 'athletic-enhancing' supplement use.
• A 24 percent reduction in drinking and driving.
• Healthier nutrition behaviors.
• ATHENA (Athletes Targeting Healthy Exercise & Nutrition Alternatives)

After ATLAS was shown to be effective, the next step was to develop a program for young female athletes. This required tailoring a curriculum for high school female athletes, who have unique risk and protective factors that are different from their male counterparts. As one prominent scientist stated, “ATHENA is not just ATLAS in skirts.”

To design ATHENA, the researchers analyzed more than 2,000 female students’ from 16 schools to discover which beliefs and behaviors on which to focus. Once developed and pilot tested, ATHENA was studied in nearly 800 young female athletes from 40 sport, cheerleading and dance teams at 18 high schools. Half used the ATHENA program, while the others were offered information about nutrition and eating disorders.

Coaches and their assigned student squad leaders use scripted lesson plans, while other team members had matching workbooks. All received pocket-sized Athletes Guides containing drug, nutrition and strength training information.

ATHENA-trained students were better able to control their mood, refuse drug offers and were less influenced by unhealthy media depictions of women. In addition, ATHENA athletes reported:

Atlas & Athena FAQs

Why do ATLAS and ATHENA work?

ATLAS and ATHENA use the positive influence of coaches and peers to help athletes work toward healthy goals. Both programs are implemented within the sport team, where coaches and teammates, who often have years of ongoing contact, greatly influence health behaviors. Positive peer and coach pressure and engaging youth in interactive, entertaining activities make learning fun.

What is the research behind ATLAS and ATHENA?

Linn Goldberg, M.D., and Diane Elliot, M.D., began investigating the reasons young athletes used anabolic steroids, alcohol and other drugs and how to prevent their use in 1987. Since that time their research has involved more than 7,500 high school students. After developing potential strategies they applied for and received two independent research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Those programs, now known as ATLAS and ATHENA, have undergone randomized controlled evaluations involving more than 4,000 student-athletes and tested in more than 50 high schools. The results of the programs are published in leading medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Today ATLAS and ATHENA stand out as the only proven effective athlete health promotion and drug prevention programs. After ATLAS was initiated in the Salt Lake City School District, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy stated that, "[ATLAS is] responsible for declining trends in substance abuse among student-athletes during 2002." Salt Lake City Mayor Anderson stated, "These results show what can happen when you implement programs with a proven track record of success. ATLAS is making a difference, giving our young people brighter futures and, perhaps, saving lives." After ATLAS was implemented in Lexington High School (Massachusetts), coach Mitch Finnegan stated, “[the] freshman reported no use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs…. [the] freshmen team was the best freshmen team we’ve ever had… .”[the] varsity was the best team we’ve had in 10 years.” Dr. Nora Volkow, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health in her remarks to Congress stated on March 25, 2005, “…both ATLAS and ATHENA demonstrate that sports teams can be effective vehicles to promote healthy lifestyles and deter drug abuse and other harmful behaviors.”

How are ATLAS and ATHENA Implemented?

ATLAS and ATHENA training usually occurs during the sport season within the team setting. The programs are student-athlete-(squad leader) led and performed in small groups of five to six athletes, referred to as squads. Both are coach-facilitated, highly scripted and interactive, with each session lasting 45 minutes. ATLAS involves 10 sessions, while ATHENA has 8 sessions. Both programs have five-session boosters for subsequent years.

How do ATLAS and ATHENA differ?

The reasons young men and women use performance-enhancing and body-shaping drugs and alcohol differ, so much of the content of ATLAS and ATHENA are gender-specific.

ATLAS and ATHENA target those risk and protective factors that are either more relevant to young males or more useful to young women. For example, the nutrition portions of ATLAS focus on the protein and calorie needs for the young male athletes who are at risk for using performance-enhancing drugs to become bigger and stronger. Because discussions of calories can place a focus on body weight, it can stimulate unhealthy eating practices for young women athletes. Therefore, ATHENA focuses on the protein and calcium needs for young women’s muscles and bone strength.

Why is Sports Illustrated’s partnership with ATLAS and ATHENA so important?

Sports Illustrated has identified the problem of drugs in sports over the past four decades. During the past few years, steroid use among high school athletes has become a national problem, while the use of alcohol and other drugs remain at intolerable levels. Today, the health of young athletes is threatened. To combat this problem and promote healthy behaviors of high school athletes, Sports Illustrated has teamed with the Center for Health Promotion Research at the Oregon Health & Science University. This partnership will initiate a national program of effective, drug prevention and health promotion for the over 7 million young athletes involved in high school sports. The communication power and expertise of Sports Illustrated combined with the science-tested ATLAS and ATHENA programs will recapture the healthy mission of sport.

During 2006, regional drug prevention and health promotion workshops will be initiated. These workshops will help coaches and school officials learn what they can do to aid their student-athletes. At each workshop, specific schools will be chosen as “SI Schools” to become national models. ATLAS and ATHENA will be implemented at each designated SI School, beginning fall of this year and Sports Illustrated will highlight the schools, teams’, coaches’ and students’ success. A new SI School Web site will focus on state-of-the-art sports nutrition, exercise training and drug prevention for athletic directors, coaches, parents, and young athletes. SI Schools will provide young athletes with the tools for success.

What is the OHSU Center for Health Promotion Research?

The newly created OHSU Center for Health Promotion Research is committed to excellence in education, training and dissemination of evidence-based health promotion programs to schools, community groups and the workplace. The center engages partnerships to help facilitate translation of research programs to the ‘real world’ and ensure success by critical evaluation. Financial support for the center, through the OHSU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation will fund the center's efforts to bring these innovative and effective strategies to public service.

Other information about ATLAS and ATHENA

Sens. Joe Biden and Orrin Hatch in Senate Bill 2195, the “Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004” recommended ATLAS and ATHENA be used as the basis for all anabolic steroid education programs in elementary and secondary schools nationwide. President Bush signed the bill Oct. 22, 2004.

High School Sports & Health Promotion

Seven million young athletes are engaged in school-sponsored sports in the United States. These young athletes’ most often say they participate in sports for fun, to be with their friends, to get in shape and stay physically active. However, school sports do not safeguard these athletes from drug use or other unhealthy behaviors. In fact, male high school athletes drink more alcohol and use more performance enhancing drugs than non-athletes. Female athletes are predisposed to develop disordered eating practices and use body-shaping drugs, such as diet pills, laxatives, and amphetamines.

About the Researchers

   Linn Goldberg, M.D.

Linn Goldberg, M.D., is a graduate (with distinction) of The George Washington School of Medicine, professor of medicine, head of the Division of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine, director of the Human Performance Laboratory and director of the Center for Health Promotion Research at the Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Goldberg is a fellow of the American College of Sports medicine and founding member of the Endocrine Society's Hormone Foundation. He has been awarded 30 research grants as principal and co-Investigator, has more than 190 scientific publications and has co-authored three books. He has served as an Expert Panelist for the Department of Education's Office of Safe, Disciplined and Drug Free Schools, a member of the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives to prevent substance abuse among children and adolescents, a consultant for numerous federal agencies, and a delegate to the World Health Organization. In addition, Dr. Goldberg is a principal investigator in a National Institutes of health study to reduce type 2 diabetes among adolescents.

Dr. Goldberg has been an expert witness for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Government Reform, regarding the prevention of performance enhancing drug use among children, adolescents and professional athletes. He has been a featured speaker at national and international conferences on drug prevention among adolescent athletes, including those by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, U.S. Department of Education, American College of Sports Medicine, the American Psychiatric Association, the Council of Europe, and the International Olympic Congress. His work has been highlighted by NBC Nightly News, ABC News, PBS, CNN, ESPN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, USA Today, Web MD, National Public Radio, Health, Family Circle, and Teacher Magazines.