Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40595831›Full record

Observational studyScientific reports2025

Effects of sport disciplines on offspring sex ratio in elite athletes: an observational study.

François B Favier, François D Desgorces, Grégoire Bosselut, Thierry Launay, Grégoire P Millet, Florian Alexis Britto

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

François B FavierEuroMov Digital Health in Motion, University of Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France.
François D DesgorcesUniversité de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, PSMS, Reims, France.
Grégoire BosselutEuroMov Digital Health in Motion, University of Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France.
Thierry LaunayUniversité Paris Cité, Paris, 75015, France.
Grégoire P MilletInstitute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Florian Alexis BrittoUniversité Paris Cité, Paris, 75015, France. florian.britto@inserm.fr.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The sex ratio (SR; the ratio of male to female births) is a demographic indicator close to 1.04 in the worldwide population that can variate depending in several environmental conditions. The practice of elite sport exposes athletes to several factors known to impact SR, in particular high physiological (training loads) and psychological (management of personal and professional life) levels of stress. However, knowledge about the effect of elite sport practice on SR is limited. We used binomial logistic regression to analyze the SR of the offspring (n = 2995 births) of 2132 athletes (18.7% of females) from various sports including 1597 athletes selected in their national team. We showed that endurance elite athletes are more likely to have daughters compared to athletes from mixed or power-oriented disciplines. Furthermore, classification tree analysis revealed that the probability of siring daughters was strongly enhanced in female athletes who gave birth during their professional sport career (SR = 0.581). Our results highlight the practice of elite sport as a condition associated with specific adaptation of the reproductive system. This raises questions about the mechanisms responsible for SR alteration (ranging from physiological to socio-economic aspects), opening new avenues in sports sciences and in reproductive biology.

Indexed as

AthletesSex RatioSportsAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleYoung AdultElite sportGender inequalityHuman reproductionSex-ratio

Identifiers

PMID40595831
PMCPMC12217473

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.