The dietary intake and eating attitudes of adolescent climbers has not previously been studied. To fill this knowledge gap, we administered three surveys to 22 rock climbers (13 males, 9 females, age 14.2 ± 1.9 years): climbing ability, three-day dietary recall, and Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26). The majority (82%) of climbers did not meet their target energy intake (target = 2,471 ± 493 kcal·day-1; actual = 1,963 ± 581 kcal·day-1) (p = 0.003) and 86% of climbers consumed below their target carbohydrate intake (target = 283 ± 67 g·day-1; actual intake = 226 ± 72 g·day-1) (p = 0.009). Average dietary protein intake was 95 ± 51 g·day-1, with the majority of climbers meeting their target intake of 88 ± 21 g (p = 0.580). Seventy-three percent of climbers consumed below their target dietary fat intake (target = 90 ± 21 g·day-1; actual = 69 ± 20 g·day-1) (p = 0.001). Average EAT-26 scores were 5.3 ± 4.1, indicating minimal risk of disordered eating attitudes/behaviors. There were no significant differences in boulderers vs. top rope climbers for energy/macronutrient intake, BMI, and EAT-26 score. There were no associations between energy intake and EAT-26 score (R 2 = 0.245, p = 0.271) or climbing ability and EAT-26 score (R 2 = p = 0.217). These data suggest that, with the exception of dietary protein intake, adolescent climbers fail to meet target dietary intakes, and exhibit minimal risk of disordered eating.
Keywords: EAT-26; climbing ability; dietary recall; disordered eating; eating attitudes; lowenergy availability; nutrition; youth.