Biological Differences between Late 19 and Early 20 Century Urban and Rural Residence.

Communities urbanize when the net benefits to urbanization exceed rural areas. Body mass, height, and weight are biological welfare measures that reflect the net difference between calories consumed and calories required for work and to withstand the physical environment. Individuals of African-decent had greater BMIs, heavier weights, and shorter statures.

Nutrition within the household: 18th through early 20 century female and male statures.

When other measures for material conditions are scarce or unreliable, the use of height is now common to evaluate economic conditions during economic development. However, throughout US economic development, height data by gender have been slow to emerge. Throughout the late 19 and early 20 centuries, female and male statures remained constant.

Weight and economic development: current net nutrition in the late 19th- and early 20th-century United States.

When traditional measures for material and economic welfare are scarce or unreliable, height and the body mass index (BMI) are now widely accepted measures that represent cumulative and current net nutrition in development studies. However, as the ratio of weight to height, BMI does not fully isolate the effects of current net nutrition. After controlling for height as a measure for current net nutrition, this study uses the weight of a sample of international men in US prisons.

Late 19, early 20 century US, foreign-born body mass index values in the United States.

Little work exists that compares the BMIs of 19 century foreign-born and US-born natives. Russian, Italian, German, and French BMIs were 5.1, 3.

Net nutrition on the late 19th and early 20th century American Great Plains: a robust biological response to the challenges to the Turner Hypothesis.

In 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner proposed that America's Western frontier was an economic 'safety-valve' - a place where settlers could migrate when conditions in eastern states and Europe crystallized against their upward economic mobility. However, recent studies suggest the Western frontier's material conditions may not have been as advantageous as Jackson proposed because settlers lacked the knowledge and human capital to succeed on the Plains and Far Western frontier. Using stature, BMI and weight from five late 19th and early 20th century prisons, this study uses 61,276 observations for men between ages 15 and 79 to illustrate that current and cumulative net nutrition on the Great Plains did not deteriorate during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, indicating that recent challenges to the Turner Hypothesis are not well supported by net nutrition studies.

Biological Conditions and Economic Development: Nineteenth-Century Stature on the U.S. Great Plains.

Average stature is now a well-accepted measure of material and economic well-being in development studies when traditional measures are sparse or unreliable, but little work has been done on the biological conditions for individuals on the nineteenth-century U.S. Great Plains.

A Weighty Issue: Diminished Net Nutrition Among the U.S. Working Class in the Nineteenth Century.

Much has been written about the modern obesity epidemic, and historical BMIs are low compared with their modern counterparts. However, interpreting BMI variation is difficult because BMIs increase when weight increases or when stature decreases, and the two have different implications for human health. An alternative measure for net current nutritional conditions is body weight.

The relationship between 19th century BMIs and family size: Economies of scale and positive externalities.

The use of body mass index values (BMI) to measure living standards is now a well-accepted method in economics. Nevertheless, a neglected area in historical studies is the relationship between 19th century BMI and family size, and this relationship is documented here to be positive. Material inequality and BMI are the subject of considerable debate, and there was a positive relationship between BMI and wealth and an inverse relationship with inequality.

Black and white body mass index values in developing nineteenth century Nebraska.

Little is known about late 19th and early 20th century BMIs on the US Central Plains. Using data from the Nebraska state prison, this study demonstrates that the BMIs of dark complexioned blacks were greater than for fairer complexioned mulattos and whites. Although modern BMIs have increased, late 19th and early 20th century BMIs in Nebraska were in normal ranges; neither underweight nor obese individuals were common.

Body mass, wealth, and inequality in the 19th century: joining the debate surrounding equality and health.

We explore relationships among BMI variation, wealth, and inequality in the 19th century US. There was an inverse relationship between BMI and average state-level wealth and a small, inverse relationship with wealth inequality. After controlling for wealth and inequality, farmers had greater BMI values than workers in other occupations, and blacks had greater BMI values because of nutritional deprivation in utero.

Family size, the physical environment, and socioeconomic effects across the stature distribution.

A neglected area in historical stature studies is the relationship between stature and family size. Using robust statistics and a large 19th century data set, this study documents a positive relationship between stature and family size across the stature distribution. The relationship between material inequality and health is the subject of considerable debate, and there was a positive relationship between stature and wealth and an inverse relationship between stature and material inequality.

The body mass index of blacks and whites in the United States during the nineteenth century.

Body mass index (BMI) values reflect the net balance between nutrition, work effort, and calories consumed to fight disease. Nineteenth-century prison records in the United States demonstrate that the BMI values of blacks and whites were distributed symmetrically; neither underweight nor obese individuals were common among the working class. BMI values declined throughout the nineteenth century.

Black and white body mass index values in nineteenth century developing Philadelphia county.

This paper demonstrates that although modern BMIs in the US have increased, 19th century BMIs in Philadelphia were lower than elsewhere within Pennsylvania, indicating that urbanization and agricultural commercialization were associated with lower BMIs. After controlling for stature, blacks consistently had greater BMI values than mulattos and whites; therefore, there is no evidence of a 19th century mulatto BMI advantage in the industrializing North. Farmers' BMIs were consistently heavier than those of non-farmers.

Height of female Americans in the 19th century and the antebellum puzzle.

Using 19th century state prison records, this study contrasts the biological standard of living of comparable US African-American and white females during a period of relatively rapid economic development. White females were consistently taller than black females by about 1.5 cm (0.

Wealth, inequality, and insolation effects across the 19th century white US stature distribution.

Sources associated with 19th century stature variation have been widely considered. Using US state prison records and robust statistics, this paper illustrates that 19th century US white statures were positively associated with a broad combination of wealth, equality, and environmental characteristics. Individuals from geographic areas characterized by low wealth and high inequality had shorter statures.

Nineteenth century Mexican statures in the United States and their relationship with insolation and vitamin D.

The use of height data to measure living standards is now a well-established method in economics. However, there are still some populations, places and times for which the comparison across groups remains unclear. One example is 19th century Mexicans in the US.

Racial differences in body mass indices of men imprisoned in 19th Century Texas.

A limited amount of research has been done on the body mass index values of 19th century Americans. This paper uses Texas prison records to demonstrate that, in contrast to today's distributions, most BMI values were in the normal range. Only 21.

Racial differences in body mass indices for male convicts in nineteenth century Pennsylvania.

This paper demonstrates that although modern BMIs have increased, 19th century Middle-Atlantic black and white BMIs were in the normal range; neither underweight nor obese individuals were common. Farmers' BMIs were consistently heavier than non-farmers. Philadelphia residents' BMIs were lower than elsewhere within Pennsylvania, indicating that urbanization and agricultural commercialization were associated with current biological living standards in urbanized areas.

Living standards in Black and White: evidence from the heights of Ohio Prison inmates, 1829-1913.

The use of height data to measure living standards is now a well-established method in the economic history literature. Moreover, a number of core findings are widely agreed upon. There are still some populations, places, and times, however, for which anthropometric evidence remains limited.

Inequality in the American South: evidence from the nineteenth century missouri state prison.

The use of height data to measure living standards is now a well-established method in economic history. Moreover, a number of core findings in the literature are widely agreed upon. There are still some populations, places and times, however, for which anthropometric evidence remains thin.

Statures of 19th century Chinese males in America.

Objective: This study considers statures of 19th century male Chinese immigrant to the American West and assesses how their personal characteristics were related with stature variation.

Subjects: The subjects were 1423 male Chinese prisoners received between 1850 and 1920 in the Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington state prisons.

Method: The study compares 19th century Chinese inmate statures with other studies and employs stature regression models on time, socio-economic status and residence within the USA to account for biological variation.

Mexican body mass index values in the late-19th-century American West.

No research has been done on the body mass index values of the 19th-century Mexican population. This paper introduces a new data source of 19th-century Mexican male inmates in American prisons and finds that the majority of Mexican body mass was in the normal range (18.5-24.

The biological standard of living in 19th century Mexico and in the American West.

During the mid-19th century, the United States acquired Texas and large parts of Mexican territory with the vast Mexican-born population. This paper considers the biological standard of living of the part of this population that was incarcerated in American prisons. We use their physical stature as a proxy for their biological welfare.