---
title: Do female athletes have lower PMS than female non-athletes? | Niyora
description: Yes. Female athletes had noticeably lower PMS and night eating syndrome compared to female non-athletes.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/sports-participation-to-combat-premenstrual-syndrome-and-night-eating-syndrome-2025/
---

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- Do female athletes have lower PMS than female non-athletes?

Survey study, 2025

# Do female athletes have lower PMS than female non-athletes?

Yes. Female athletes had noticeably lower PMS and night eating syndrome compared to female non-athletes.

 Moderate study design

400 female university students from four universities, 200 athletes and 200 non-athletes

## What they did

Cross-sectional study comparing 200 female athletes (mean age 21.49) and 200 female non-athletes (mean age 20.96) from four universities. Measured PMS and night eating syndrome using questionnaires.

## What they found

Female non-athletes showed noticeably greater PMS and night eating syndrome compared to athletes. Higher PMS symptoms were linked to more night eating in both groups.

## What it means for you

This suggests sports participation may be associated with lower PMS. However, this is a cross-sectional study so we cannot prove sports reduces PMS. Women with less severe PMS may simply be more likely to become athletes. Study included only university students.

200

female athletes

200

female non-athletes

21.49

mean age of athletes (years)

## About the study

Original title Sports Participation to Combat Premenstrual Syndrome and Night Eating Syndrome and Its Correlations among Undergraduate Female Varsity Students Authors Mahnoor Naeem, Asif Ali, Muhammad Usama et al. Journal Human Nature Journal of Social Sciences Year 2025 Study design Survey study Participants 400 What was tested Sports participation - observational comparison Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.71016/hnjss/z3d0kz82](https://doi.org/10.71016/hnjss/z3d0kz82)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Eating disorders](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-eating-disorders/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)[Athletes and sport](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-athletes/)

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