Attitudes towards disordered eating in the rock climbing community: a digital ethnography

Plain English summary This study presents an analysis of content related to eating disorders in a number of online discussion forums dedicated to rock climbing. The findings show that the topic of disordered eating and negative body image is far from a blind spot or a dark secret within the climbing community, as is sometimes claimed. There is a rich ongoing conversation among climbers on topics related to eating habits, where most forum users acknowledge that eating disorders are indeed a problem relevant to the climbing community. While the assumed benefits of a low weight are clearly a dominant idea among climbers, weight may have become less important over time as climbing has evolved as a sports discipline. Forum users also attest to ways in which climbing may in fact be helpful in fostering a positive body image, such as highlighting performance over aesthetics or emphasizing wholesome community values. Within the climbing community, an undue focus on low body weight must be balanced by proper nutritional advice and healthy role models, not least for young climbers who may feel pressured to lose weight as a quick but short-sighted way to boost performance. Background Rock climbing is an antigravitational sport in which a low body weight may intuitively seem beneficial. A small number of studies have found an increased prevalence of disordered eating among adolescent and adult climbers. However, to date there has been no qualitative research into the attitudes towards disordered eating and body image in the rock climbing community. Methods This explorative study employed a netnographic approach with the aim of understanding how topics related to food, dieting, and disordered eating in the climbing community are addressed in online conversations. Discussion forums on nine major climbing websites as well as three climbing-related forums on the online community Reddit were searched for posts and comments related to the research question. The collected data were then assessed through thematic analysis, generating a number of themes and subthemes. Results Five overarching themes, labelled Is there a problem?, Subjective experiences, Why and how is weight an issue?, The importance of context, and What can be done?, were identified among the forum posts. Most forum users acknowledge that eating disorders are indeed a problem relevant to the climbing community, although a significant minority disagrees. While the assumed benefits of a low weight are clearly a dominant idea among climbers, weight may have become less important over time. Forum users also attest to ways in which climbing may in fact be helpful in fostering a positive body image, such as highlighting performance over aesthetics or emphasizing wholesome community values. Conclusions This study demonstrates that the topic of disordered eating and negative body image is far from a blind spot or a dark secret within the rock climbing community, as is sometimes claimed. An undue focus on low body weight among climbers must be balanced by proper nutritional advice and healthy role models, not least for young climbers who may feel pressured to lose weight as a quick but short-sighted way to boost performance. Clinicians should be aware of the prevailing 'weight talk' in the climbing community and be attentive to negative body image and disordered eating in their patients.

Automated summary

This study analyzes the content related to eating disorders in online discussion forums dedicated to rock climbing. The findings reveal that eating disorders and negative body image are not ignored within the climbing community, as some claim. There is an ongoing conversation about eating habits among climbers, and while low body weight is still considered important, it may have become less significant over time. Climbing can also foster a positive body image by emphasizing performance and wholesome community values. An undue focus on low body weight among climbers should be balanced with proper nutritional advice and healthy role models, particularly for young climbers who may feel pressure to lose weight for performance.