Attitudes of body building clubs athletes to androgenic anabolic steroids

In the last decade, attention to physical appearance and increase the volume and muscle mass have been raised as a positive social value for many young people. This value has been associated with issues such as eating disorders and abuse of drugs and dietary supplements. The aim of this study was to survey the perceptions and attitudes of athletes to performance-enhancing drugs. The statistical population consisted of male athletes with a history of at least six months in bodybuilding in Tehran city. Samples were selected by judgmental method and at least 305 completed questionnaires were analyzed. This research was descriptive and survey methods. Data were collected by self-administrative questionnaire. Its validity was confirmed by a number of experts in the field of bodybuilding and reliability was calculated with Cronbach s alpha (α=0.80). For statistical analysis was a used descriptive and inferential method such as chi-square test. The results showed there were significant differences between users and non-users in terms of age but there were no differences in educational level. Most consumers (70%) believed that without the use of performance-enhancing drugs cannot achieve ideal body composition. In contrast a small percentage (18%) than nonusers had this belief. many users (60%) thought it is not harmful to health if used correctly. We recommended to Families, sports officials and media to use appropriate programs to change social beliefs about bodybuilding and use of performance-enhancing drugs.