Submaximal Work Performance of Native and Migrant Preadolescent Boys at High Altitude

Document Type

Article

Authors

Jere D. Haas, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Lawrence P. Greska, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
Thomas L. Leatherman, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Hilde Spielvogel, Instituto Boliviano de Biologia de Altura, La Paz, Bolivia
Luis Paredes Fernandez, Instituto Boliviano de Biologia de Altura, La Paz, Bolivia
Geraldine Moreno-Black, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Mario Paz Zamora, Instituto Boliviano de Biologia de Altura, La Paz, Bolivia

Abstract

Fifty-five preadolescent boys of European ancestry were given submaximal exercise tests in La Paz, Bolivia (mean altitude of 3600 m). Twenty-nine of the boys were born at high-altitude (HAB) and 26 were born at low-altitude (LAB). V02 and relative work intensity (V02W02max) were significantly lower in HAB boys than in LAB boys, suggesting that the HAB boys were better adapted to hypobaric hypoxia than the LAB boys. After controlling for relative work intensity, there were no significant differences between the groups in their physiological responses to sub­maximal exercise, suggesting that the greater V02 of the LAB boys was not due to a less efficient oxygen transport system. Also, interindividual variability was considerably greater in LAB than HAB boys for many measures, including V02. This may reflect considerable individual differences in the development of adaptive responses to hypobaric hypoxia among LAB boys.

Recommended Citation

Haas, Jere D.; Greska, Lawrence P.; Leatherman, Thomas L.; Spielvogel, Hilde; Fernandez, Luis Paredes; Moreno-Black, Geraldine; and Zamora, Mario Paz (1983) "Submaximal Work Performance of Native and Migrant Preadolescent Boys at High Altitude," Human Biology: Vol. 55: Iss. 2, Article 31.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol55/iss2/31