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Auditing the Representation of Female Versus Male Athletes in Sports Science and Sports Medicine Research: Evidence-Based Performance Supplements
Open accessAbstract
Although sports nutrition guidelines promote evidence-based practice, it is unclear whether women have been adequately included in the underpinning research. In view of the high usage rates of performance supplements by female athletes, we conducted a standardised audit of the literature supporting evidence-based products: β-alanine, caffeine, creatine, glycerol, nitrate/beetroot juice and sodium bicarbonate. Within 1826 studies totalling 34,889 participants, just 23% of participants were women, although 34% of studies included at least one woman. Across different supplements, 0–8% of studies investigated women exclusively, while fewer (0–2%) were specifically designed to compare sex-based responses. The annual publication of female-specific studies was ~8 times fewer than those investigating exclusively male cohorts. Interestingly, 15% of the female participants were classified as international/world-class athletes, compared with 7% of men. Most studies investigated performance outcomes but displayed poorer representation of women (16% of participants), whereas health-focussed studies had the greatest proportion of female participants (35%). Only 14% of studies including women attempted to define menstrual status, with only three studies (~0.5%) implementing best practice methodologies to assess menstrual status. New research should target the efficacy of performance supplements in female athletes, and future sports nutrition recommendations should specifically consider how well female athletes have contributed to the evidence-base.
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“Research on collegiate female athletes suggests that more than half (65.4%) are using either traditional (single and multivitamin/mineral supplements) or non-traditional (herbals, botanicals, and other biologic and nutrient) sports supplements at least one time per month [283].”
From International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutritional concerns of the female athlete (2023) · cites this paper as [283]
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“…in females being tested as experimental participants at demonstrably lower rates than males, both historically and currently at the time of writing (Antequera et al., 2022; Cowan et al., 2023; James, Klevenow et al., 2023; O ʼ Halloran, 2020; Smith et al., 2022; Vanden Noven et al., 2023).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Smith, E. S., McKay, A. K. A., Kuikman, M., Ackerman, K. E., Harris, R., Elliott-Sale, K. J., Stellingwerff, T., & Burke, L. M.
- Affiliations
- Australian Catholic University (AU)
- Boston Children's Hospital (US)
- Female Athlete Performance and Health Initiative, Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia
- Nottingham Trent University (GB)
- University of Victoria (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Smith, Ella S.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-02-23
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 953
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8912470
- OpenAlex
- W4213430488
- Cited by
- 113
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 17.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
- e-space (Manchester Metropolitan University) (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- UVic’s Research and Learning Repository (University of Victoria) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Sex and Gender in Healthcare
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sports, Gender, and Society
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Keywords
- female athletes, sex differences in research, sports nutrition, gender representation in research, beta-alanine, caffeine, creatine, glycerol, nitrate, beetroot juice, sodium bicarbonate, menstrual status, evidence-based practice
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Male, Sports, Sports Medicine, Nutrition Policy, Dietary Supplements, Athletes
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