Nutritional studies are vital to the world of sports.

The right nutrients can optimise an athlete’s performance, reduce their risk of injury and help them get the most out of training.

But traditionally, research on nutrition for female athletes has been lacking.

Despite their incredible achievements and contributions to sports, a review from the University of Chester suggests just 6% of sports science research has focused specifically on female athletes.

That figure is even more shocking when you consider just how popular women’s sport is.

49% of athletes at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo were female, while 50 million people around the world tuned in to watch the England women’s football team win the Euros in 2022.

All of this makes it even more important to grow the body of research so that the increasing number of women in sport are not under-served by it.

So, what exactly is the role of nutrition in women’s sports? How does it differ to men’s sport. And how can we encourage more studies in this area?