Female Athlete Program

The Female Athlete Program at Boston Children’s Hospital provides specialized, evidence-based care for athletes through young adulthood. Our goal is to help athletes stay healthy, strong, and performing at their best. To this end, we provide coordinated care that integrates sports medicine, endocrinology, nutrition, and biomechanics.

We proudly serve as team physicians for organizations such as the Boston Ballet and the Boston Marathon. Whether you’re a developing athlete or competing at an elite level, our team is here to help you perform at your highest potential.

Our areas of expertise include:

• Relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs) and bone health
• Menstrual health
• Surgical care
• Running biomechanics and gait optimization
• Injury prevention and rehabilitation
• Performing arts medicine
• Nutrition
• Sports behavioral health
• And more!

While our focus is on female athletes, we also provide specialized consultations for male athletes for conditions such as such as stress fractures, low energy availability and REDs, thyroid dysfunction, and diabetes.

In striving to meet the demands of their sport and other commitments, many athletes don’t get the sleep or nutrition they need. Myths that equate lean bodies with athletic excellence make the problem worse by incorrectly convincing athletes that a restrictive diet will help them meet their goals.

In fact, running on empty throws an athlete’s body out of balance. The first sign may be low energy or a drop in athletic performance. Over time, an athlete can develop relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs), a syndrome of poor health and declining athletic performance that happens when an athlete doesn’t get enough fuel to support the energy demands of their training.

The dietitians on our team work with athletes who receive care in the Sports Medicine Division to develop balanced nutrition plans that will meet their energy needs. When an athlete is showing signs of low energy availability or REDs, our team collaborates across specialties — sports medicine, endocrinology, nutrition, and behavioral health — to help restore a more balanced approach to training and food.

In many cases, low energy availability is rooted in overly aggressive training plans that drain athletes’ reserves rather than making them stronger. We therefore may also review the athlete’s training plan and suggest adjustments that will help them work more productively.

The Female Athlete Program is nationally recognized for advancing research, clinical innovation, and education in female athlete health. Drawing on our multidisciplinary expertise, our research explores athlete wellness at the intersection of biology and performance.

We also collaborate with academic, hospital, and sports organizations to answer key questions about performance, recovery, and long-term athlete health. Our findings directly inform clinical care — ensuring that every athlete benefits from the latest evidence-based strategies in the field.

Our areas of research include:

• The effects of low energy availability among marathon athletes
• Psychological effects of sports injuries in female athletes
• Bone health in athletes of various sports