The New York Times reports:

In the study, the researchers randomly assigned nonobese women to have liposuction on their protuberant thighs and lower abdomen or to refrain from having the procedure, serving as controls. As compensation, the women who were control subjects were told that when the study was over, after they learned the results, they could get liposuction if they still wanted it. For them, the price would also be reduced from the going rate.

The conclusion: As promised, fat didn’t return to the thighs and lower abdomen. Instead, it was “redistributed upstairs” to the upper abdomen, shoulders and triceps within a year. The researchers said they weren’t surprised by this result, and pointed to the body’s tendency to “defend” its fat. The body is constantly replacing fat cells, but they relocate after liposuction because the procedure destroys the net-like structure under the skin where fat cells are located.