Assessment of Dietary Intake and Eating Attitudes in Recreational and Competitive Adolescent Rock Climbers: A Pilot Study

The dietary intake patterns and eating attitudes of adolescent climbers has not been studied. To fill this 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 = 2471493 kcalday-1; actual = 1963 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 (R2= 0.245, p=0.271) or climbing ability and EAT-26 score (R2=, p=0.217). These data suggest that adolescent climbers fail to meet target dietary intakes except protein, and exhibit minimal risk of disordered eating.