Does creatine supplementation improve athletic performance in teens?

What the evidence says

Creatine is a natural substance in muscles that helps power short bursts of intense effort, like sprinting or lifting weights. In adults, dozens of studies show it can modestly improve strength and high-intensity performance, and it's considered safe for most healthy adults.

In teenagers, the picture is less clear. Reviews looking specifically at adolescent athletes report that creatine does seem to improve exercise performance in the short term, similar to what's seen in adults, and no serious side effects have shown up in these studies so far.

But the amount of research in teens is much smaller than in adults, and studies have not tracked what happens over many years of use during growth and puberty. Because of this gap, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that pediatricians actively discourage teen athletes from using creatine, and has suggested retailers should not sell it to minors.

The Canadian Paediatric Society has similarly flagged concern. A recent survey of Canadian pediatric specialists found that performance and appearance-enhancing supplements, including creatine, are being used by youth and are linked to some serious health problems, especially affecting kidneys and the digestive system, even though many doctors report little training on screening for this use.

So the honest answer is: creatine likely does help performance in teens in the short run, based on limited studies, but doctors' groups in both Canada and the US say the unknowns around long-term safety in a still-growing body outweigh the performance benefit, and recommend against routine use.