Does Creatine Stunt Growth?

There's no evidence that creatine stunts growth or harms growth plates. But research in teens is limited, short-term and mostly not designed to test safety, so nobody can say for sure what long-term use does to a growing body. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) doesn't recommend creatine or other performance supplements for young athletes, mainly because the benefits are unclear and supplements aren't vetted before they're sold.

Does creatine stunt growth?

No study has found that creatine shortens adult height or damages growth plates. Creatine works in muscle, not in the growth plates where bones lengthen, and it is not a hormone.

The honest caveat is that "no evidence of harm" is not the same as "proven safe." A 2023 review of creatine studies in children and teens found only 13 studies with 268 participants in total, with average ages from about 11 to 18. The overall quality was poor, and none of the studies were designed to look at safety. The authors called it a gap in the research.

What is creatine?

Creatine is a natural compound your liver and kidneys make from three amino acids (arginine, glycine and methionine). You also get it from meat and fish. Your muscles use it to make quick bursts of energy, which is why it's popular with athletes in sports that involve sprinting, jumping or lifting.

Plenty of teens already use it. In one survey of 270 high school students, 21% of boys and 3% of girls said they had taken creatine. So if you're curious about it, you're not alone, and it's worth knowing what the research can and can't tell you.

Creatine is not a steroid, and it doesn't work like testosterone or other hormones. That's an important difference, because anabolic steroids can stop growth in teens who are still getting taller (see does testosterone make you taller).

Is creatine safe for teens? What the evidence shows

Here's where the science stands:

Some researchers, including the authors of a 2021 review by sports nutrition scientists, point to small medical studies in children with conditions like muscular dystrophy where creatine didn't harm kidney, liver or bone markers. They see this as a sign it is probably safe for young people. Pediatric groups are more cautious, because those were small studies in specific patients, not long-term studies in healthy teen athletes.

What the AAP says about supplements for under-18s

The AAP's 2016 clinical report on performance-enhancing substances found that their use is common among children and teens, both for sports and for appearance. Its concerns about legal supplements include:

• High rates of product contamination
• A link with later use of anabolic steroids
• A negative effect on the focus and experience of youth sports

The report also notes that puberty itself brings big natural gains in strength. For most young athletes, supplements don't add much beyond what puberty, good nutrition and a solid training program already provide.

In the AAP's Ask the Pediatrician column, a pediatric sports medicine doctor lists possible creatine side effects: weight gain, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Another AAP page adds muscle and stomach cramps and dehydration. The column also warns that many supplements contain harmful substances that go undetected.

Bottom line: Creatine isn't known to stunt growth, but it isn't proven safe for growing teens either, and it may not help you much while you're still going through puberty.

What actually helps teen athletes (and growth)

The AAP recommends a food-first approach:

• Eat enough: regular meals with enough protein and enough total food for your training. A normal diet with meat or fish already contains some creatine. See foods that help you grow taller.
• Sleep 8 or more hours: this is when muscles recover and growth hormone is released (more in does sleep make you taller).
• Hydrate before, during and after training.
• Train smart: a supervised strength program builds muscle safely at any age. Lifting doesn't stunt growth either, as explained in does lifting weights stunt growth.

For a wider look at what can and can't affect your height, see what stunts growth.

When to see a doctor

Talk to your pediatrician before starting creatine or any sports supplement, especially if you have a kidney condition, take regular medication or are trying to change your weight quickly for a sport. Stop and get checked if you have vomiting or diarrhea that won't go away, dizziness or fainting, or severe cramps.

For growth itself, see a doctor if you haven't grown in a year, you're dropping across percentile lines on the growth chart, or you show no signs of puberty by about 14 (boys) or 13 (girls). Creatine isn't a known cause, but those signs are worth a checkup.

The takeaway

Creatine doesn't stunt growth as far as anyone has found, and it isn't a steroid. But teen research is thin, the benefits during puberty are uncertain, and supplement quality isn't checked before sale. While you're growing, food, sleep and good coaching will do more for you than a tub of powder.