The height gap in 19th-century America: net-nutritional advantage of the elite increased at the onset of modern economic growth.

We present evidence on the 19th-century trend in the height of male US passport applicants. These men represent a much wealthier segment of contemporary society than found in most stature samples previously analyzed. The height trend among the wealthy is much more robust in comparison to the average population that experienced a decline in stature.

Upward and onward: high-society American women eluded the antebellum puzzle.

We analyze archival evidence on the physical stature of 19th-century female US passport applicants. Heights in this group increased markedly at a time when the rest of the population was becoming shorter. While diseases may have affected the physical stature of everyone in the society, the fact that the height of elite women did not decline (and even increased) suggests that their families were wealthy enough to shield them completely from rising price of nutrients.

The transition to post-industrial BMI values among US children.

The trend in the BMI values of US children has not been estimated very convincingly because of the absence of longitudinal data. Our objective is to estimate time series of BMI values by birth cohorts instead of measurement years. We use five regression models to estimate the BMI trends of non-Hispanic US-born black and white children and adolescents ages 2-19 between 1941 and 2004.

Shrinking due to corpulence? BMI in childhood predicts subsequent linear growth among US children and youth, 1963-1970.

While the USA is one of the most opulent countries, its population is not among the tallest but is among the most corpulent. This short report investigates the association between body mass index in childhood and subsequent change in height-for-age at the individual level, based on data from the National Health Examination Study (1963-1970). A sub-sample of participants in this survey was measured twice at intervals between 2.

Physical stature and intelligence as predictors of the timing of baby boomers' very first dates.

The paper analyses to what extent the timing of the very first date of American adolescents in the 1960s correlated with their physical stature and cognitive ability. Using an event history approach, it was found that intelligence and a weight slightly above the average raised the odds of arranging a first rendezvous, whereas the effect of height was gender-specific. Tallness improved chances among boys, whereas girls whose height was slightly below the average had the highest odds.

Toward generation XL: anthropometrics of longevity in late 20th-century United States.

All-cause and cause-specific mortality among white U.S. men and women are analyzed using the NHANES I data (1971-1975) and epidemiologic follow-up to 1992, to examine the effect of physical stature on mortality, controlling for other confounding variables within a discrete-time framework.

Boom, bust, and the human body: further evidence on the relationship between height and business cycles.

Historical time series for average human height exhibit short- and medium-term cycles that can be associated with business cycles in the 19th and 20th century. Using spectral analysis, we calculate the proportion of cyclical fluctuations in height series attributable to economic cycles. We also analyze the extent to which these cyclical phenomena change over time.

The empirical relationship between longevity and physical stature may be obscured by unobserved genetic diversity in the optimal metabolic rate.

It is hypothesized that an inheritable "optimal" metabolic rate is associated with the lowest attainable mortality risk, greatest attainable height (in youth) and a desirable body weight. Positive deviations from this rate are reflected in overweight and higher mortality, negative deviations in shorter stature (stunting), low body mass index (BMI), and higher mortality. In a heterogeneous population the optimal rate may differ among genotypes, and those with a higher optimal rate are the ones who can translate more energy intake into growth in height such that under optimal net-nutritional intake, they are able to reach a greater final adult height with a lower body mass index than genotypes with a lower optimal rate.

The height of Tennessee convicts: another piece of the "antebellum puzzle".

Average height of the free population in the United States born in the mid-1830s began to decline despite growing per capita incomes. Explanations for this "antebellum puzzle" revolve around a possibly deteriorating disease environment promoted by urban agglomeration and increases in the relative price of protein-rich foods. However, several groups were immune to the effect, including members of the middle class, whose income was high enough, and increased enough to overcome the adverse developments and maintain their nutritional status.

The making of giants in a welfare state: the Norwegian experience in the 20th century.

The population of Norway has become one of the tallest in the world even overtaking Americans during the course of the second half of the 20th century-not in terms of income, but in terms of physical stature and other indicators of biological welfare, such as longevity. This is also the case in several other west-European welfare states. Both income and physical stature have converged across Norwegian counties since the 1930s.

Non-parametric regression with BayesX: a flexible estimation of trends in human physical stature in 19th century America.

The recently developed computer program BayesX provides a Bayesian approach to the estimation of non-parametric additive models. Such models can be useful in applications when the effect of metrical covariates (such as time) are to be estimated while controlling for other factors. In an application of this methodology, trends in the height of West Point cadets in the 19th century are estimated.