Creatine and Children: Is Creatine Safe and Effective for Young Athletes?

by Brandon LaRue

Creatine and Kids: What the Science Actually Says About Safety, Performance, and Brain Health

The Most Researched Supplement You're Probably Still Unsure About

If you've spent any time around youth sports, you've probably heard conflicting opinions about creatine.

Some coaches swear by it.

Some parents worry it's dangerous.

Others lump it into the same category as steroids or performance-enhancing drugs.

The reality is much less dramatic.

Creatine is one of the most researched dietary supplements in the world, with thousands of studies evaluating its safety and effectiveness. While the overwhelming majority of research has been conducted in adults, a growing body of evidence is helping us better understand how creatine affects children and adolescents.

The question is no longer whether creatine works.

The question is whether it is safe and appropriate for young athletes—and whether its benefits extend beyond sports performance into areas like brain health, mental health, and cognitive function.

The emerging evidence suggests the answer may be yes.

What Is Creatine?

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound made from three amino acids: arginine, glycine, and methionine.

Your body produces creatine naturally, and you also obtain it from foods such as:

  • Beef

  • Bison

  • Pork

  • Fish

  • Poultry

Approximately 95% of the body's creatine is stored in skeletal muscle, where it helps rapidly regenerate ATP—the body's primary energy currency.

Think of creatine as a rechargeable battery pack for high-energy activities.

Whether you're sprinting, wrestling, jumping, lifting weights, or changing direction on a soccer field, creatine helps replenish the energy needed for those explosive efforts.

What Does Creatine Do for Young Athletes?

Research consistently shows that creatine supplementation can improve:

  • Strength

  • Power output

  • Sprint performance

  • Repeated high-intensity exercise performance

  • Lean muscle mass development

  • Training recovery

These benefits occur because creatine increases phosphocreatine stores inside muscle tissue, allowing athletes to regenerate ATP more rapidly during intense exercise.

For young athletes participating in sports such as wrestling, football, hockey, soccer, baseball, volleyball, basketball, or track and field, creatine may help support better training quality over time.

Importantly, creatine does not replace hard work.

It simply helps athletes get more out of the training they are already doing.

The Question Every Parent Wants Answered:

Is Creatine Safe for Adolescents?

This is where the conversation gets interesting.

A 2026 systematic review examining creatine supplementation in adolescent athletes and physically active youth evaluated available research on kidney function, liver function, cardiovascular health, and overall safety.

After reviewing studies involving adolescent athletes and pediatric populations, researchers found:

  • No consistent evidence of kidney damage

  • No evidence of liver toxicity

  • No significant cardiometabolic concerns

  • No serious adverse events attributed to creatine supplementation

  • High tolerability across multiple studies and populations
    The authors concluded that creatine supplementation was generally well tolerated and did not produce meaningful short-term safety concerns in renal, hepatic, hematologic, or cardiometabolic health markers.

What About Kidney Damage?

This is probably the biggest myth surrounding creatine.

Many parents hear the word "creatine" and immediately worry about kidney health.

The concern largely comes from confusion surrounding creatinine.

Creatinine is a normal byproduct of creatine metabolism and is often measured in blood tests to evaluate kidney function.

When someone supplements with creatine, creatinine levels may increase slightly because more creatine is being metabolized—not because the kidneys are being damaged.

The 2026 systematic review found no clinically meaningful changes in kidney function markers such as:

  • Serum creatinine

  • Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)

  • Other renal biomarkers

Researchers reported no evidence of kidney dysfunction attributable to creatine supplementation in adolescent populations studied.

What About Liver Health?

Another common concern is liver toxicity.

Again, current evidence does not support these fears.

In youth and young adult athletes using creatine throughout an entire competitive season, liver enzymes remained within normal reference ranges, and no evidence of liver damage was observed.

Researchers concluded that creatine use was not associated with adverse hepatic outcomes during the study period.

The Most Exciting Area of Research:

Creatine and Brain Health

Most people think of creatine as a muscle supplement.

That may soon change.

Your brain is one of the most energy-demanding organs in your body.

Just like muscle tissue, brain cells rely heavily on ATP production to function properly.

Emerging research suggests creatine may help improve brain energy metabolism by increasing phosphocreatine availability within the brain itself.

One of the studies included in the recent adolescent safety review examined teenage girls with treatment-resistant depression.

Researchers found that creatine supplementation increased cerebral phosphocreatine levels in a dose-dependent manner without causing adverse safety concerns.

In simple terms:

Creatine successfully improved brain energy availability.

That's a potentially huge finding.

Creatine and Mental Health

Mental health challenges among adolescents continue to rise.

While creatine is not a replacement for counseling, medical care, healthy sleep habits, physical activity, nutrition, or social connection, researchers are increasingly investigating its role as a supportive intervention.

Several emerging areas of interest include:

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Concussion recovery

  • Traumatic brain injury

  • Cognitive performance

  • Sleep deprivation resilience

  • Neurodevelopmental health

The reason is straightforward:

The brain requires tremendous amounts of energy.

Many neurological and psychiatric conditions appear to involve disruptions in brain energy metabolism.

Creatine may help support the brain's ability to produce and utilize energy more efficiently.

The science is still evolving, but the direction of the research is exciting.

Should Every Child Take Creatine?

No.

Creatine is a tool—not a requirement.

At Well Built Supplements, we believe the foundation always comes first.

Before considering any supplement, young athletes should consistently focus on:

  1. Sleep

  2. Nutrition

  3. Hydration

  4. Strength training

  5. Physical activity

  6. Stress management

  7. Healthy relationships

These factors will always produce more benefit than any supplement.

That said, for adolescents who:

  • Participate in organized sports

  • Strength train consistently

  • Consume inadequate dietary creatine from food

  • Have performance goals

  • Want additional support for training adaptation

Creatine may be a reasonable evidence-based option when discussed with parents and healthcare providers.

Practical Recommendations

Current evidence suggests creatine monohydrate remains the gold standard form.

When used:

  • Choose pure creatine monohydrate

  • Purchase from reputable companies that provide third-party testing

  • Maintain adequate hydration

  • Follow label directions

  • Discuss supplementation with a healthcare professional if underlying medical conditions exist

Most importantly, avoid "proprietary blends" and flashy performance products marketed toward young athletes.

The simplest option is usually the best option.

The Bottom Line

The conversation around creatine and youth athletes is changing.

The current body of evidence suggests creatine monohydrate is generally safe in healthy adolescents when used appropriately and does not appear to negatively affect kidney function, liver health, or cardiometabolic markers.

Beyond sports performance, emerging research is uncovering something even more exciting:

Creatine may be as much a brain health supplement as it is a muscle supplement.

While more long-term research is needed, especially in healthy adolescent populations, the evidence continues to move in a positive direction.

For parents looking for evidence-based strategies to support athletic performance, recovery, and potentially cognitive health, creatine may be one of the most studied and promising options available.

As always, remember:

Supplements should supplement a healthy lifestyle—not replace one.

Build the habits first.

Then use science to support them.

Back to News