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Table 2 Examples of forum comments for the theme "Subjective experiences"

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

Subtheme

Examples of forum comments

2a. Personal experiences of disordered eating

I lost a few pounds last year, and even though I wish I could say I did it in a healthy way, it actually turned into an eating disorder. For a brief period of time I did climb slightly harder, but after that honeymoon phase I was just tired and freezing and getting injured all the time. I'm glad I turned it around in time

People say I have the 'perfect' climber body and it makes me so mad. My weight is below 50 kg. Why? Because I ate too little and I never went through puberty as I should have. I still struggle with disordered eating. Your ideal body weight should be a weight that you can maintain and feel good about without restricting your food intake. We need to put a stop to this idea that you climb harder if you weigh less. Increasing the 'strength to weight' ratio by dieting is easy but foolish. What you should be doing is increasing your strength.

Perhaps some of you will not like what I'm going to say but… You're only 15, you shouldn't be dieting. I was also into team sports and tried to lose weight. It can be done in a healthy way but since climbing is a very competitive sport and team mates aren't always thinking about your well-being, it's SUPER easy to lose control. For me, it led to an eating disorder. So yes, it MAY be helpful, but in the end you should prioritize eating healthy and things will turn out great. You're 15 years old, its ok if your diet isn't perfect. The biggest threat would be to develop anorexia

2b. Friends or relatives had disordered eating

I think the reason why some of us are objecting is that many of us know climbers who just wanted to lose a little weight in order to climb harder, and then it spiraled out of control and they ended up with an eating disorder. It's certainly possible to reach 6% body fat in a controlled way, some athletes do it, but you should be aware of the risks.

Just watch out. My sister was like you a few years ago–training all the time and being super fuzzy about her diet. She's now in intensive care in [a British] hospital with severe anorexia nervosa, and she has had to drop out of university. At the moment, she can't even walk up a flight of stairs, and climbing anything is out the question. You think you won't lose control but it's so easy to slip.

I'm worried about my friend going on this climbing trip. He had bulimia last year, now he has anorexia and is severely underweight. He's signed up for an advanced-level climbing course next month and the organizers don't know anything about his disordered eating. My biggest fear is that he will simply collapse on the wall and hurt himself, or worse.

2c. Body image issues

If you already have body image issues, my experience is that climbing can make them worse. I've never felt good about my looks, then I started cycling, and then climbing, two sports where being light is an advantage so that wasn't very helpful. When I become more fit I also become more obsessive, it seems. I look at other people climbing and everyone has like this perfect athletic build… and in contrast, I have love handles flopping over the climbing harness. If I couldn't do a certain move (or succeed in a cycling race) I'd blame my weight and swear that I would lose a couple of pounds more.

Yes, it's definitely a problem. I was in this group of climbers and the girls would constantly be on social media, commenting on and fat-shaming other climber women. Of course, they did it because they were insecure. I think they looked at climbing like elitist rather than inclusive, and when they felt that they weren't as strong or as popular as others, they would turn to gossiping and criticizing in order to be accepted by their pro-click. To me, it felt like something out of a high school drama and sooo toxic. I made sure to find other climbing friends quick. How come climbing affects people this way when it really should be an inclusive and positive activity?

Body image ONLY becomes a thing for me when I see all these HOT climbing gear—that clearly doesn't fit me. [Climbing gear brand] especially—I can barely fit into their size L… their clothes are just TINY! Stuff like this makes me wonder If I simply have the "WRONG" body for climbing.

2d. Thin-shaming

Also, I'm thinly built but far from anorexic, and it’s so annoying when other climbers assume that I have some sort of mental disorder and starve myself intentionally!

I am climber and I am very skinny. I've always been thin: when I was a child, when I didn't climb, when I was into other sports, when it didn't do any sports at all—always tall and super skinny. This was never due to an eating disorder. I've never adhered to any diet. I eat whatever I feel like. I've seen a doctor multiple times, but nothing's wrong with me. I guess it's just in my genes. People often tell me that I climb hard because I am skinny. They'll say that those pro climbers all have anorexia and that's why they're so strong. And sure, that may be true for some of them. Many of them, perhaps. But certainly not all. Some of us just have a fast metabolism by nature and gain strength from training hard and being mindful about what we eat. When you say that this or that strong and skinny climber you see at the crag must have an eating disorder, you're being judgmental and insulting when in reality they just put a lot of hard work in.

I was once lucky enough to stay with a top-level climber for a few weeks. He would probably be considered very skinny by most and some might even see him and think he's malnourished. Truth is he ate more than I did. Huge enchiladas, fast food, and also lots of healthy food too. I weighed 30 or 40 pounds more than him even though I was only slightly taller, and most would think I'm skinny. Bottom line, there's really no way of telling if someone eats too little unless you actually spend time together. Some people are just gifted with the right genes and don't gain weight.