Altitude and growth among the sherpas of the eastern Himalayas

The results of the anthropometric survey of Sherpa children of both sexes (n = 478) from high- and low-altitude areas in the eastern Himalayas are presented. The study reveals that growth is slower both more prolonged in the high-altitude Sherpas compared with growth at low altitude and that Sherpa children are the smallest of all the high-altitude populations considered here. Sexual dimorphism is not well defined during the earlier age periods. Our skinfold thickness data from the low-altitude Sherpas corroborate the centripetal distribution of fat found elsewhere.