Determine Nutritional Requirements for High Altitude?
High terrestrial altitudes and mountains have aroused great fascination and cham for mankind. Every year millions of people go to mountains for recreation and adventure sports. Besides these visitors, there are some 140 million permanent inhabitants of high lands in the Himalayas, Central Asian, East African Andean and Rocky mountain regions. Permanent residency is restricted to about 4300 m, although some ethnic groups e.g. miners in the Peruvian Andes are reported to live at heights 5500 m for a short period of time.
Himalayas constitute the northern frontiers of our country with human habitation up to an altitude of 4300 m, while soldiers are deployed even up to 5800 m for fixed tenure. High altitude, we have studied above, presents an extreme environment with hypoxia, cold, high solar radiation as physical stresses beside the psychological stress. These areas are also arid in nature with sparse vegetation and shortage of potable water. These factors vary in magnitude depending upon the location and season, and set a formidable challenge to human adaptability and nutrition.