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Sex, Gender and Nutrition

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 20452

Editor

1. Epidemiology and Health Outcomes, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
2. Food, Nutrition and Health, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Interests: social determinants; food; healthy eating; obesity; non-communicable diseases; gender-based analysis; women’s health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food intake and diet quality are known to differ between boys and girls and men and women, but current research is limited in causal inference and many studies still conflate sex (hormones, chromosomes, physiology) and gender (self-identity, social norms, roles, and institutionalized power), or use them only as confounders rather than as primary explanatory factors or unique subpopulations. The biological-social mechanisms and programmatic implications of sex/gender differences in diet, nutrition, and metabolism remain underexplored.

This Special Issue will foreground the following gaps and under-developed domains: (1) life course and pediatric nutrition from a sex-and-gender lens such as gender-sensitive nutritional strategies for childhood obesity, MASLD, IBD, anemia and coeliac disease; (2) longitudinal studies examining social determinants, gender norms and structural context (e.g., multilevel analysis of gender inequality intersection with SDGs); (3) sex-specific nutrient metabolism and gender perspectives on precision nutrition, nutrigenomics and microbiome; (4) research on sex/gender-specific sports and performance nutrition or gender-tailored interventions or programmes; (5) gendered pathways to disordered eating and mechanisms and interventions on sex/gender patterns in body image and eating behaviours; (6) global research on gender and sex differences in diet quality and nutrient adequacy in LMICs; and (7) rigorous sex-and-gender analysis in nutrition research or methods papers giving practical guidance on integrating sex and gender into different study designs in nutrition research. Commentaries on funding, ethics, and training needs to build sex-and-gender research capacity in nutrition science are also welcome.

Dr. Annalijn Conklin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • sex
  • gender norms
  • gender roles
  • gender identity
  • eating behaviours
  • diet
  • nutrition
  • metabolism
  • mechanisms
  • social determinants
  • interventions
  • recommendations

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

26 pages, 1472 KB  
Review
Nutritional Monitoring During Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy: Body Composition and Metabolic Implications
by Martina Tosi, Fabrizia Lisso, Francesco Maruca, Carmelo Pujia, Taira Monge, Ersilia Troiano and Elisa Mazza
Nutrients 2026, 18(12), 1967; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18121967 - 18 Jun 2026
Viewed by 690
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is associated with clinically relevant changes in body composition, energy metabolism, and functional capacity in transgender and gender-diverse individuals. The nutritional implications of these adaptations remain insufficiently characterized, and current assessment models, largely derived from cisgender populations, [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is associated with clinically relevant changes in body composition, energy metabolism, and functional capacity in transgender and gender-diverse individuals. The nutritional implications of these adaptations remain insufficiently characterized, and current assessment models, largely derived from cisgender populations, may not fully capture hormone-related body composition and metabolic changes. This narrative review aims to synthesize the metabolic and body composition effects of GAHT, evaluate methodological limitations in assessing nutritional status, and propose an integrated framework for clinical nutritional management. Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted through searches of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science, complemented by screening of relevant guidelines and reference lists. Priority was given to longitudinal studies, mechanistic studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and clinical guidance addressing GAHT-related changes in body composition, metabolism, nutritional status, and functional outcomes. Results: Available evidence suggests that GAHT is associated with sex steroid-related, tissue-specific changes in body composition and metabolism. In transgender men, testosterone is generally associated with increases in lean body mass (LBM), reductions in fat mass, and potential increases in visceral adiposity, alongside possible increases in energy expenditure and altered cardiometabolic profiles. In transgender women, estrogen therapy, combined with androgen suppression, is generally associated with reductions in LBM and redistribution of subcutaneous fat, with heterogeneous metabolic and functional responses. Across both groups, changes in body composition are not consistently reflected by the Body Mass Index or functional outcomes, suggesting a possible dissociation between structural and functional adaptation. Common assessment tools show limitations, including reliance on cisgender-derived reference standards and inability to capture dynamic hormonal transitions. Conclusions: Current evidence supports the need for a longitudinal and individualized interpretation of nutritional and body composition changes during GAHT. A shift toward longitudinal, multimodal nutritional assessment, integrating body composition, functional measures, biochemical markers, dietary intake, and clinical context, may improve clinical monitoring and reduce misclassification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sex, Gender and Nutrition)
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