Female athletes find they are at a disadvantage compared to their male counterparts as the majority of sports research focuses on male athletes. In this episode we explore this gap in sports research. We will hear from a Registered Dietician and personal trainer, a member of Canada’s women’s national under-20 soccer team, an established sports nutrition researcher, as well as a local student researcher who is striving to help level the playing field. 

Find our transcript here: https://researchns.ca/beyondresearch-sports-research-where-are-the-women/ 

In Season 2, Episode 10 – Sports Research: Where are the Women, we cover: 

04:17 – The sex data gap in sports nutrition research

09:06 – How the sex data gap can disadvantage female athletes

11:06 – Women’s menstrual cycles as an excuse to not include female participants in research

12:08 – Future aspirations: Fully addressing women’s needs in sport nutrition literature

12:50 – Considerations researchers need to give when gathering study participants

15:52 – Biggest sex data gap: The performance sector

18:14 – Registered Dietitian sees the sex data gap first hand

21:03 – Necessity of collaboration on various scales

Thank you to our guests:

Samantha Fisher is a fourth year Human Nutrition (Hons) student at St. Francis Xavier University and is a recent recipient of a Scotia Scholars Award for her research project “Investigating the Sex Data Gap in Sport Nutrition Research.”

Dr. Jennifer Jamieson is an Associate Professor of Human Nutrition at Saint Francis Xavier University. Dr. Jamieson is currently Samantha Fisher’s supervisor on her research project and previous professor of Mikaela Henderson.

Mikaela Henderson is a Registered Dietitian specializing in sports nutrition. Mikaela is the Team Dietitian for Saint Mary’s University varsity athletics, and she also has a private practice at Coastal Sports & Wellness.

Annika Leslie is a sophomore at West Virginia University. She is a defender for the WVU women’s varsity soccer team and member of Team Canada’s U20 women’s soccer team.

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