"I am a climber and have been suffering with an eating disorder for many years. Sometimes, I describe my disorder, as this nasty, loud, and rude radio voice in the back of my head. I can't turn it off. All day, it is screaming, controlling, and commenting on everything I do, eat, say, and think. It is a living hell.
I started out as a recreational climber and have done some competition climbing as well. It makes me extremely sad to see how many climbers around me are struggling with disordered eating beliefs and behaviours, or full-blown clinical eating disorders. And I often wonder how big the problem within our sport really is. I mean, if I, as a single climber, already know so many, the number of unreported cases must be large.
My eating disorder for sure did not develop or was caused by being in the climbing community, however, being around such number-focused and progress-striving people for sure did its part in it. To this day, I find it extremely hard to create safe spaces within climbing, that do not nurture my eating disorder. I am lucky to be that far into my recovery to recognize such situations e.g. climbers that comment on bodily changes of themselves or others, speak negatively about their own or somebody else's weight or express really disordered beliefs about food and exercise. Today I choose to leave such climbing spaces, try to be very mindful of whom I am climbing or training, and also be careful about which climbers, I want to follow online on their social media platforms.
As a sufferer of an eating disorder, I wish more people would understand, that you can severely suffer from an eating disorder no matter your weight, gender, age or how hard you climb. Recovering from an eating disorder is difficult and involves so much more than eating normally."

(Female climber, who wanted to stay anonymously)

This text was sent to us by a climber, who reached out to us to share her story. There’s nothing more valuable than such personal stories. Eating disorders are still a taboo. Most people don’t understands what they mean and how they impact a person’s life. It is hard to understand how their inner monologue must feel. But it is specifically these personal stories that make this intangible disorder more tangible and more understandable. And it needs both – plus education on prevention (!) – to break this stigma and this taboo.

For this reason, we really appreciate this athlete coming forward and sharing their story on this platform.

On this note: you ever want to share your own story, feel free to reach out. This is a safe space – we will never share anything without your consent.

This past week was Eating Disorder Awareness Week (EDAW), an annual campaign by NEDA (National Eating Disorder Association in the US) to educate the public about the realities of eating disorders and to provide hope, support, and visibility to individuals and families affected by eating disorders. We, from Climbing Psychology, wanted to take part in this and shed some light on the topic of eating disorders specifically in climbing.

Because we know that the climber above who reached out to us, is not alone with this issue.

As a community, we cannot ignore the problem in our sport. Anyone who claims that eating disorders or disordered eating are not an issue for climbers is either ignorant or uninformed. Eating disorders are a prevalent issue in the climbing community, and they can have serious consequences for climbers' physical and mental health.

Eating disorders are a serious but treatable mental and physical disorder that can affect people of all genders, ages, races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, body shapes, and weights. While no one knows for sure what causes eating disorders, a growing consensus suggests that it is a range of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.

In general, athletes are at higher risk of developing eating disorders - especially for sports where high value is placed on leanness, weigh-classes or in anti-gravitational sports (Bratland-Sanda et al., 2013). A recent study found a prevalence of 6.3% for male elite and 16.5% for female elite sport climbers, with this figure thought to be higher for women at the upper end of elite. However, the number of unreported cases or real prevalence of eating disorders in climbing is believed to be high, from recreational athletes to professional athletes (Joubaert et al., 2020).

Climbers can be pretty obsessed with numbers. Their thoughts are often occupied with grades, how much weight to add to hangs, how many seconds to hang for, the number of training repetitions, and for some, how much they weigh and their calorie intake. 

• "Last week I was able to add X kg's to my hangs."

• "Usually I flash all boulders of this grade."

• "Two months ago, I was X kg's lighter, and I was able to do X amount of strict pull-ups."

Most climbers are aware of their weight, and sometimes this can motivate an unhealthy, or even dangerous, relationship with food. Athletes in all sports are vulnerable to eating disorders, disordered eating and eating difficulties, and climbing as a leanness focused, gravitational sport is no exception. In climbing, the "lighter and thinner is better" mentality is widespread. Most recreational climbers but also competition climbers will have experienced this notion, this mentality within their climbing community.

Together with amazing colleagues from the International Association of Psychologists in Climbing, we wrote a "Consensus Statement of Eating Disorders in Climbing".

You can now download and read the full paper for free here.

If you are a coach, parent and/or climber – this is for you! Feel free to widely distribute the Consensus Statement to your climbing gyms, training groups and events.

Disclaimer: We from Climbing Psychology work preventively and on educating climbers, coaches and parents on the issue of eating disorders and disordered eating. We don't work in treatment. If you feel like you or a person close to you are affected by disordered eating or an eating disorder, don't hesitate to reach out to your general practitioner and/or clinical psychologist of your trust. We know it can be scary to seek help, but disordered eating or eating disorders don't resolve on their own.

By the way, we offer Coach Educational Classes on different climbing related topics. If you are interested in a Coach Educational Class on the topic of eating disorders in climbing and prevention, join the waiting list.