Agencies

London, Dec 1: In order to make themselves attractive to girls, boys as young as 12 year-olds have started taking muscle-building steroids without realising the health hazards they are exposing themselves to, experts have warned.

School children who regularly abuse the drugs, traditionally associated with athletes, bodybuilders and security guards, have no idea that they can make their testicles wither, enlarge their chests or cause acne and sterility, Advisory Council on the misuse of drugs suggests.

About 200,000 people say they have used steroids, with 42,000 taking them at least once a year and 20,000 taking them every month. Sports administrators fear there will be a boom in use in the run-up to the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

Lord Adebowale of the council said on Thursday, ''I am concerned by the lack of information on the risks. This stuff isn't being used just by people who want to be athletes, but by those who want to be in boy bands and get girls.''

Council chairman Michael Rawlins explained that just a teaspoon of gamma-butyrolactone, known as 'club drug'', can leave a victim heavily sedated and vulnerable to sexual assault. Its effects are similar to gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, the outlawed 'date-rape' drug.