Fuelling a female footballer

Good quality nutrition is key to sporting success. But while plenty of research exists on the impact of nutrition on performance, most of it has been done on male athletes. That’s despite female athletes now making up nearly 50% of participants in professional sport.

In the case of female footballers, research shows they could be consuming only half the carbohydrates they need. Not eating enough – or under-fuelling – as it’s known in footballing circles – is thought to be endemic in the women’s game. Experts believe much of that is down to a lack of available information.

As the Women's Euros 2022 tournament raises the profile of women's football around the world, Ruth Alexander explores what it takes to fuel a female footballer and how focusing on the particular nutritional needs of sportswomen could make a huge difference to performance. She speaks to professional footballer, Ode Fulutudilu, a forward for the South Africa women’s national team, Aimee O’Keefe, performance nutritionist at Manchester United Women, Dr José Areta, lecturer in sports nutrition at Liverpool John Moore’s University in the UK, and Abbie Smith-Ryan, exercise physiologist and sports nutrition researcher at the University of North Carolina in the US.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Two women playing football in an arena. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

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