Body temperature set-point and the conscious perception of skin temperature in obese women

Summary Obese and control women were immersed in a bath of water kept at 37° C. Oral temperature was measured. The subjects left hand was placed outside the bath for the local application of thermal stimuli between 20° and 45° C, subjects reporting the most pleasant temperature. The lower oral temperatures and lower levels of skin temperature rated as pleasant by obese women as compared with women of normal body weight or less suggests that in obesity the setpoint of body temperature is lowered.