Integrated sport and SRH interventions show promise as a way to attract and engage youth in SRH programming, with significant improvements reported by most studies measuring HIV-related outcomes and all three studies reporting contraception or pregnancy outcomes, though less than half of studies measuring gender roles, gender norms, or gender-based violence reported positive outcomes.
Key Findings
Methods
A global scoping review identified 21 studies meeting inclusion criteria out of 4,161 records searched across four databases.
Four databases were searched for articles mentioning SRH education, sports, adolescents, and synonyms of these concepts.
Articles were included if they reported on an intervention where youth both play a sport and are explicitly taught a curriculum to improve any SRH outcome.
Included studies were published between 2000 and 2022, reported quantitative outcome data, and included participants between 10 and 24 years old.
References from selected articles were also hand-searched to identify additional studies.
Results
The majority of integrated sport and SRH programs identified in the review were implemented in Africa.
13 of 21 studies (the majority) were implemented in Africa.
This geographic concentration reflects the prior focus on soccer and HIV-related outcomes in African countries noted in existing literature.
The review was designed to identify programs beyond Africa and beyond soccer, yet African programs still dominated the findings.
Results
Football/soccer was the predominant sport used in integrated SRH interventions.
15 of 21 studies used football/soccer.
Netball/basketball was used in 2 studies.
Cricket was used in 2 studies.
4 studies involved unspecified sports.
Results
HIV/AIDS prevention and prevention of gender-based violence were the most commonly addressed SRH topics in integrated sport programs.
HIV/AIDS prevention was addressed in 16 of 21 studies.
Prevention of gender-based violence was addressed in 13 of 21 studies.
Contraception or pregnancy outcomes were addressed in only 3 studies.
The dominance of HIV/AIDS and GBV topics reflects the geographic concentration of programs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Results
Most integrated sport and SRH interventions were multi-session programs lasting up to 12 weeks.
12 of 21 interventions were multi-session programs.
Program duration extended up to 12 weeks.
Only 7 studies included random assignment to treatment and control conditions.
Two co-authors extracted data from selected studies, and narrative synthesis and descriptive tables were used to summarize extracted data.
Results
Significant improvements in HIV-related outcomes were reported by most studies measuring those outcomes.
Most of the studies measuring HIV-related outcomes reported significant improvements.
HIV/AIDS prevention was the most commonly measured SRH outcome, appearing in 16 studies.
This finding aligns with prior literature suggesting programs integrating soccer and sexual health education have shown promise in improving HIV-related outcomes in African countries.
Results
All three studies reporting contraception or pregnancy outcomes showed significant improvements.
All 3 studies that measured contraception or pregnancy-related outcomes reported positive findings.
This outcome category was among the least commonly studied, with only 3 of 21 studies addressing it.
The consistent positive results across all contraception/pregnancy studies suggest potential effectiveness in this domain despite the small number of studies.
Results
Fewer than half of the studies measuring gender roles, gender norms, or gender-based violence reported positive outcomes.
Less than half of the studies measuring gender roles, gender norms, or gender-based violence reported positive outcomes.
Gender-based violence prevention was addressed in 13 of 21 studies, making it a common target alongside HIV/AIDS prevention.
The lower rate of positive findings in this domain compared to HIV and contraception outcomes suggests these constructs may be more difficult to change through sport-integrated programs.
The authors identified this as an area requiring additional research to understand effective content, context, and implementation strategies.
Conclusions
The review identified a need for additional research on the specific content, context, and implementation strategies associated with positive SRH outcomes in sport-integrated programs.
Only 7 of 21 studies included random assignment to treatment and control, limiting causal inference.
The geographic concentration in Africa and sport concentration in soccer limits generalizability to other regions and sports.
The authors concluded that 'additional research is needed to better understand the specific content, context, and implementation strategies that are associated with positive outcomes.'
What This Means
This research involves a scoping review — a type of study that systematically maps the existing evidence on a topic — examining programs that combine sports participation with formal sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education for young people aged 10–24. The researchers searched four academic databases and found 21 studies (from an initial pool of 4,161 records) that met their criteria, including that participants both played a sport and received explicit SRH curriculum, with measurable outcomes reported. The studies spanned multiple countries but were heavily concentrated in Africa, and soccer was by far the most common sport used.
This research suggests that combining sports with SRH education shows real promise for improving certain health outcomes among young people. Programs focusing on HIV/AIDS knowledge and prevention showed significant improvements in most studies that measured these outcomes, and every single study that tracked contraception or pregnancy outcomes also showed positive results. However, programs aimed at changing gender norms, gender roles, or reducing gender-based violence were less consistently successful — fewer than half of studies targeting these outcomes reported improvements, despite gender-based violence prevention being one of the most common program goals.
The practical implication is that sport may be a useful 'hook' to attract and engage young people in health education they might otherwise not seek out, and this approach appears particularly effective for building HIV-related knowledge and improving contraception-related behaviors. However, the evidence base is limited by the small number of rigorous studies (only 7 used random assignment to treatment and control groups) and the heavy geographic and sport-type concentration. More research is needed across different regions, different sports, and with stronger study designs to understand what specific program content and delivery strategies drive positive outcomes, especially for the harder-to-shift outcomes related to gender norms and violence.
Saphir M, Salem M, Tahir P, Devanaboyina V, Decker M. (2026). Integrating sexual and reproductive health education with sports for young people: a global scoping review.. BMC public health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-26373-w