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Steroid Drugs: Health Education

Answer

The Government recognises the mental and physical health risks of people taking physique-enhancing drugs, including anabolic steroids. The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and to exploring options, through the cross-Government National Youth Strategy, to improve young people’s access to accurate health information, both online and offline. We are also taking action through the men’s health strategy to improve health literacy.

The Government hosts Talk to FRANK, a drug and alcohol information and advice service for young people, parents, and others concerned about drug use. The website includes information on the mental and physical health risks of steroid use and is updated regularly. Treatment for image and performance enhancing drug use within drug and alcohol treatment services is available, depending on local commissioning arrangements. Drug and alcohol treatment services and local authority public health teams raise awareness of the risk of drug use, including physique-enhancing drugs, through targeted campaigns with their local populations according to local need, and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities supports them in this.

The Department of Health and Social Care has worked closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on its consultation, Growing up in the online world, whose outcomes were published in June 2026. This consultation will help inform future policy to better protect children’s health and wellbeing and ensure that digital platforms play their part in promoting safe and healthy online experiences.

We are also taking a range of actions to improve men’s health literacy, as set out in the Men’s Health Strategy. These include:

• ensuring health literacy improvements are embedded at community level;

• building the evidence base on health literacy in men;

• working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; and

• identifying ways to build media literacy skills in men to help them critically assess health information and protect against misinformation that harms to health.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

HL1180

Session

2026-27

Subjects

Health education Steroid drugs Social media

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk