Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec;21(1):2366427.
doi: 10.1080/15502783.2024.2366427. Epub 2024 Jul 3.

Nutritional perspectives in female soccer: a scoping review

Diogo V Martinho  1   2 , Adam Field  3 , Robert Naughton  4 , Alex S Ribeiro  1 , André Rebelo  5   6 , Élvio R Gouveia  2   7 , Hugo Sarmento  1
Affiliations

Nutritional perspectives in female soccer: a scoping review

Diogo V Martinho et al. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Background: The purpose of the review was to evaluate the literature exploring nutritional habits and practices in female soccer players.

Methods: The PRISMA-ScR Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews were followed. Searches of Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus databases were conducted for studies exploring the nutritional habits and practices of female soccer players.

Results: A total of 72 studies were included in the scoping review. Studies on female soccer players mainly focused on daily energy expenditure, daily energy and macronutrient intake and hydration status. A negative energy balance was consistent across studies, and the ingestion of CHO appears below the current recommendations. Female soccer players are predominately in negative energy balance, which may indicate that they are at risk of low energy availability. A high use of nutritional supplements is apparent in female soccer, whilst a large proportion of players commence training dehydrated.

Conclusions: The current findings have implications for practitioners relating to the planning, management, monitoring, and implementation of nutritional intake and training and competition schedules.

Keywords: Energy balance; carbohydrates; low energy availability; women soccer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flowchart of the review process.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Forest plot of the differences between energy intake and energy expenditure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. UEFA . Women’s football member associations survey report. 2019.
    1. Okholm Kryger K, Wang A, Mehta R, et al. Research on women’s football: a scoping review. Sci Med Football. 2022;6(5):549–36. - PubMed
    1. Datson N, Drust B, Weston M, et al. Match physical performance of elite female soccer players during international competition. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(9):2379–2387. - PubMed
    1. Strauss A, Sparks M, Pienaar C.. The use of GPS analysis to quantify the internal and external match demands of semi-elite level female soccer players during a tournament. J Sports Sci Med. 2019;18(1):73–81. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gualtieri A, Rampinini E, Dello Iacono A, et al. High-speed running and sprinting in professional adult soccer: current thresholds definition, match demands and training strategies.A Systematic Review [Published Correction Appears] in Front Sports Act Living. 2023;5:1323440. doi:10.3389/fspor.2023.1323440]. [Front Sports Act Living. 2023;5:1116293. doi:10.3389/fspor.2023.1116293] - DOI - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources