Obesity Lower at High Altitude

People who are classified as Obese may find it easier to lose weight at high altitudes, the results of a German study suggest.

Previous studies demonstrated weight loss in athletes and normal-weight subjects at high altitude, but this study focused on the impact of altitude on overweight people for whom weight loss is desirable.

Researchers from Germany took 20 obese men to a high altitude location for one week. No changes were made to limit their food or alter their exercise routines, in an attempt to isolate the impact of altitude on weight.

After one week, the participants were eating less, had lost weight and had a lower diastolic blood pressure.

Writing in Obesity, the researchers said that low levels of oxygen found at high altitude may cause a rise in the hormone leptin which is thought to suppress appetite. However, they say more research is needed.

- Obesity Online 2010
- American Obesity Association

- AOA Online Journal
- The Journal of the American Obesity Association