In 2002, the plateau medical research center of Qinghai Medical College surveyed 115 workers engaged in the construction of the Qinghai-Tibetan railway on China's western Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as the "world's roof".

The survey indicated an average weight loss of 10.2 percent of body weight after one month of hard work at an altitude of 4,000 meters.

Professor Gerili, director of the plateau medical research center, said that those surveyed were living in normal working conditions. "None of those surveyed had undergone especially intense exercise or diets of any kind," Gerili added.

According to the survey, people from regions located at altitudes of 2,000 meters or more were not as sensitive to the plateau environment as those from the plains. The former registered a 2.3 percent average weight loss at an altitude of 4,000 meters.

The results also indicated that those with more excess weight lost more weight in the plateau environment.

Gerili explained that anoxia, or lack of oxygen, is the main factor leading to weight loss.

"Anoxia discourages appetite, increases energy consumption, weakens the absorption functions of the stomach and intestines and disturbs normal water metabolism, all of which contribute to the weight reducing effect," Gerili said.

It is also not hard to understand why people living in low-oxygen plateau environments are physically fit, said the professor.

He suggested that body-building and weight-loss centers be built on the plateau, where obesity can be easily overcome through pleasant recreational activities and moderate physical exercise.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2003)