Boys of 12 using anabolic steroids to 'get girls'

Boys as young as 12 and 13 are using anabolic steroids to beef up their bodies in a bid to "get girls", government advisers have warned.

Latest figures show that 200,000 people in Britain have tried bodybuilding anabolic steroids - including an increasing number of teenage boys.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs called for a government awareness campaign on the health hazards.

Lord Victor Adebowale, a member of the advisory council and chief executive of the drugs charity Turning Point, told the meeting: "This stuff isn't being used just by people who want to be athletes, but by people who want to be in boy bands and get girls."

Steroids can make the testicles wither and cause sterility.