Do female athletes need less calories than male athletes?

Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

Give me your questions for my next post like this ⬇️

27 Feb 2026 · 0 min

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In this brief YouTube Q&A segment, Speaker A asks whether female athletes require fewer calories than male athletes. Speaker B refutes the notion, explaining that caloric needs are individualized based on gender, age, height, weight, activity level, and training schedule, and highlights that many of her female athletes are significantly under‑eating. Speaker A then asks if athletes should fuel differently for practice versus games, setting up a follow‑up discussion on sport‑specific nutrition timing.

Questions this video answers

No! Every athlete just needs the right amount of food for their body. Caloric needs depend on gender, height, weight, age, activity level, and training schedule. Many female athletes are drastically undereating.

Do female athletes need less calories than male athletes?
No! Every athlete just needs the right amount of food for their body. So if you took a male athlete who's 14, 5'6", growing a ton, then you took a female athlete who's 18, 6'2", like, they might have completely different meal plans. The girl might be eating far more than the kid. It just all depends on their gender, their height, their weight, their age, their activity level, their training schedule. But ultimately, Most of my female athletes are drastically undereating.
Do athletes need to fuel differently for practice versus games?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Ideally, you would be fueling for practice like you are for games, but I know that it's going to be super hard to always be that dialed in. But on game days, those are your paydays, guys. You wanna make sure that you're showing up ready, you're fueled. Game days are often more taxing mentally and physically, so you want to make sure that you have enough fuel in the tank to get you through to the final buzzer.