Madigan Sharon M
Sport Ireland Institute, Dublin, D15 D462, Ireland.
Sport and Human Performance Research Centre, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
Proc Nutr Soc. 2024 Dec;83(4):229-235. doi: 10.1017/S002966512400466X. Epub 2024 Jul 1.
The Olympic Games have grown to be the largest, gender-equal sporting event in the world, and the International Olympic Committee is committed to gender equality in sports encouraging and supporting the promotion of women in sports at all levels and in all structures with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women (IOC, 2023). Women competed for the first time at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, and the number of women competing has grown exponentially over the last 100 years, so an estimated 5494 female athletes (48 %) competed in the Summer Olympic Games 2021 in Tokyo. Supporting women (alongside men) in achieving optimum performance is crucial, and understanding that there are sex and gender gaps in sports nutrition research is important. One reason for this gap is the historical bias in sports and exercise science research towards male participants. This has led to a poor understanding of the unique physiological and nutritional needs of female athletes. In summary, a balanced approach is crucial to address the nutritional needs of both male and female athletes. Researchers should continue exploring this important area to optimise performance and health for all athletes. The aim of this review is to summarise current sports nutrition literature and highlight research that seeks to understand and address where the gaps are with respect to several key areas in sports nutrition recommendations that can impact advice and practice with both males and females.
奥运会已发展成为世界上规模最大、性别平等的体育赛事，国际奥委会致力于体育领域的性别平等，鼓励并支持在各级各类体育机构中推动女性参与体育运动，以落实男女平等原则（国际奥委会，2023年）。女性于1900年在巴黎奥运会上首次参赛，在过去的100年里，参赛女性的数量呈指数级增长，因此，估计有5494名女性运动员（占48%）参加了2021年东京夏季奥运会。支持女性（与男性一起）实现最佳表现至关重要，认识到体育营养研究中存在性别差异也很重要。造成这种差异的一个原因是体育与运动科学研究在历史上对男性参与者存在偏见。这导致对女性运动员独特的生理和营养需求了解不足。总之，采取平衡的方法对于满足男女运动员的营养需求至关重要。研究人员应继续探索这一重要领域，以优化所有运动员的表现和健康状况。本综述的目的是总结当前的体育营养文献，并突出那些旨在了解和解决体育营养建议中几个关键领域存在的差距的研究，这些差距可能会影响针对男性和女性的建议及实践。
