Emiliano Slesaransky, 17, joined Santa Monica High School’s football team as a freshman and — at the urging of coaches and teammates— started hitting the gym whenever possible: in the morning, after school, and on the weekends. The people he met there would share their strategies for bulking up.
“They would take protein powders, other supplements like some people I know take ashwagandha, and maybe creatine,” he says, citing popular energy and exercise-enhancing supplements. Emiliano started taking some of them, too.
But his dad, Eduardo Slesaransky, wanted to make sure his son’s diet — and attitude — remained balanced: “My concern was the influence that social media has on these supplements and these kinds of things and the culture of body building and the gyms.”
Protein supplements are big on social media, where influencers are helping drive sales of protein bars, shakes and powders. A poll of parents by the Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan last fall found 40% of teens consumed some type of protein supplement in the past year.
“Teen boys were more likely — twice as likely — to consume protein every day,” says Sarah Clark, a research scientist and co-director of the poll.