Creatine use, benefits and safety in children and teens
What it found
In adolescent athletes, creatine supplements improved some swimming and soccer performance measures, and no adverse events were reported in the studies reviewed.
The authors say more research is needed in young people.
What they found
Studies in people
Use among adolescents
Surveys from 2001 to 2020 found that between about 5% and 36% of adolescents reported using creatine, with higher rates in males and elite athletes. In one 2001 survey, 16% of high school athletes reported previous use.
Performance in swimmers
Five studies in adolescent swimmers found improvements in swim bench performance, sprint swimming, dynamic strength and anaerobic performance after 4 to 9 days of creatine. One longer study found no further improvement after a maintenance dose.
Performance in soccer players
Three short studies in adolescent soccer players found improvements in repeat sprinting, dribbling, jumping and power output. A seven-week study found no improvement in lower body power.
Muscle and brain creatine
In children, a loading dose increased muscle phosphocreatine by 13.9% but brain phosphocreatine by only 2.1%. Other studies found no significant increase in brain creatine in healthy children.
Clinical conditions
Case reports and small studies suggest creatine supplements can help some children with creatine deficiency disorders, muscular dystrophy, and gyrate atrophy. It is not as effective for creatine transporter deficiency.
Safety and side effects
No adverse events were reported in the adolescent athlete studies reviewed. One small study in elite soccer players found a trend toward more airway inflammation with creatine, and the authors said they could not rule out an adverse effect on the airways.
What the authors conclude
“If proper precautions and supervision are provided, creatine monohydrate supplementation in children and adolescent athletes is acceptable and may provide a nutritional alternative with a favorable safety profile to potentially dangerous anabolic androgenic drugs.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that creatine monohydrate supplementation in children and adolescent athletes is acceptable if proper precautions and supervision are provided.
- They recommend that younger athletes only consider creatine if they are involved in serious supervised training, eat a well-balanced diet, know how to use it properly, and do not exceed recommended doses.
- They call for more randomized controlled trials to examine the safety and effectiveness of creatine in children and adolescents.
How it was done
The authors wanted to summarise how common creatine use is among children and adolescents, what performance and clinical benefits it may offer, and what is known about its safety in these age groups.
They reviewed studies of creatine supplementation in children (0–12 years) and adolescents (13–19 years), including surveys of use, performance trials in swimmers and soccer players, and clinical studies in various patient groups.
What it can’t tell you
- Most studies in adolescents were small and short, so they cannot show the long-term effects of creatine use.
- No studies have been published that specifically test the safety of creatine in healthy young or adolescent athletic populations.
- The performance benefits were mainly seen in swimmers and soccer players, so the results may not apply to other sports or to non-athletes.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Authors of this manuscript received financial remuneration for preparing and reviewing this paper from the sponsor of the special issue, Alzchem. A.R.J. and C.M.K. have consulted with and received external funding from companies who sell certain dietary ingredients, and have received remuneration from companies for delivering scientific presentations at conferences. A.R.J. and C.M.K. also write for online and other media outlets on topics related to exercise and nutrition. None of these entities had any role in the design of the paper, collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish this paper.
- Authors work at
- University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, USA; Lindenwood University, USA
The paper
- Title
- Creatine Supplementation in Children and Adolescents
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Jagim AR, Kerksick CM (2021). Creatine Supplementation in Children and Adolescents. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu13020664Free full textPubMed 33670822DOI
Summary written 29 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error