Nutrition in sports is a determining factor for maintaining the health status of athletes and for enhancing sports performance. In recent decades, we have seen a marked increase in female participation in sports, whether recreationally or professionally. A woman's organism comprises specificities that induce physiological responses to exercise and nutritional needs different from those of men. Although asymmetry is still significant in research oriented towards women's sport, there have been advances and these should be applied in clinical practice in order to promote the health and sports performance of the athlete.  

The Nutrition & Health In Female Athletes Course is the first in Portugal 100% dedicated to athletes and the impact that Nutrition has on their physical, psychological and performance well-being. There is a set of facts attributed to female athletes, in addition to the transversal needs of all athletes, which make urgent the set of knowledge and skills that is aimed to develop with this innovative course:

• The prevalence of eating disorders is between 16 and 47% [10% in non-athletes]
  

Unregulated diets and caloric insufficiency are even higher.

• Sports that involve thinness have a 10 times greater risk of causing irregularities in the menstrual cycle
• An athlete with amenorrhea has a 2 to 4 times greater risk of stress fractures

The triad and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S) can occur in any female athlete, and there is an association with the difficulty of maintaining muscle mass and recovering from injuries, with infertility, cardiovascular disease, depression, low self-esteem, among others.

The faculty team of this course [which includes nutritionists, medical professionals, specialists in sport sciences and psychologists] brings together scientific, pedagogical and professional criteria to promote learning about the following:

• Nutrition requirements, recommendations and impact of nutrition on female athletes at different stages and/or life circumstances
• Characterization and intervention in eating disorders (nutrition and psychology)
• Calculation of energy and nutritional needs in different sports
• Strategies for developing, maintaining and/or restoring weight and body composition favorable to health and performance
• Menstrual cycle and influence on sport
• Triad and RED-S with exploration of metabolic changes, menstrual cycle, bone homeostasis, immunity, protein synthesis, etc.
• Case Studies and others.

This course is designed for nutritionists, doctors, athletes, coaches and other health and life science professionals who work with female athletes. The main objective of this course is the development and integration of knowledge and skills of nutrition applied to women’s sports and its practical application, in the day-to-day professional practice of nutritionists and athletes. 

This is done through a course designed and organized in an E-learning format, with the inclusion of different didactic tools to support distance learning and with the contribution of renowned national and international professionals in areas with direct involvement in Nutrition and Health in Female Athletes.