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Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED)

Our initiative is a public health incubator, designed to cultivate novel insights and strategies for prevention. We introduce trainees to a rich array of disciplinary perspectives, methodologies, and theories and provide them with opportunities to join crosscutting collaborative teams.

Out of Kids’ Hands

Are you passionate about protecting youth by advocating to ban the sale of over-the-counter diet pills and muscle-building supplements to minors? If yes, join us and be part of a growing grassroots movement across the country and beyond. Whether you’re a teen or adult, an experienced advocate or just getting started, we welcome enthusiasm for making change. Reach out to us at striped@hsph.harvard.edu to learn more.

Protecting young people from dangerous weight loss and muscle-building products

Over-the-counter diet pills and muscle-building supplements are common and widely available to consumers of all ages, with one in five women and one in 10 men reporting ever using these products. While these dietary supplements often claim to promote weight loss or muscle building – many products are sold without any scientific evidence of their safety or effectiveness and are inadequately regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Even more alarming, these deceptive products can be sold to consumers of any age without restriction, so any child can go to their local grocery store, convenience store, or gym or go online to buy these hazardous products. For these reasons, the American Academy of Pediatrics has released two reports strongly cautioning against teens using diet pills and muscle-building supplements for any reason.

Research has documented dire results among users of these products, including liver damage and even death. These products also worsen health inequities as Latinx teens are 40% more likely to use over-the-counter diet pills than white teens. In addition, they are prospectively linked with a higher risk of eating disorders diagnosis and illicit anabolic steroid use. Adolescent and young adult women who use over-the-counter diet pills are 4 to 6 times more likely than their peers to be diagnosed with an eating disorder within several years. And young men and young women who start using muscle-building supplements are 2-5 times more likely than their peers to go on to use illicit anabolic steroids or similar harmful substances.

Lawmakers from California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia have introduced legislation to protect child health and keep these dangerous products #OutofKidsHands.

Thank you to the senators, representatives, delegates, and assemblymembers for being champions of bills to protect young people from dangerous weight loss and muscle-building supplements. For more updates on each states’ legislation, check out our Out of Kids’ Hands Campaign pages below.

Out of Kids’ Hands Campaigns 2025

Model Legislation

Our Model Legislation aims to ban the sale of over-the-counter diet pills and muscle-building supplements to minors, both in stores and online, due to health risks and toxic ingredient adulteration. It serves as a template for states to create their own laws, promoting public health and safety.

Get Involved

Want to get involved with the Out of Kids’ Hands Campaign and see the bills cross the finish line? Contact us at STRIPED@hsph.harvard.edu

Resources

Further Reading on Supplement Dangers and Resources