Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/295988 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 10899
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
When traditional measures for material conditions are scarce or unreliable, body mass, height, and weight are complements to standard income and wealth measures. A persistent question in welfare studies is the 19th century's 2nd and 3rd quarter's stature diminution, a pattern known as the antebellum paradox. However, the question may not be well stated nor experienced equally by women and non-white male samples. The late 19th century's political Granger, Greenback, and Populist movements may have affected farmer and non-farmer's net nutrition. Despite 19th and early 20th century US political movements, farmers had greater BMIs, taller statures, and heavier weights than non-farmers. From the 1870s through 1890s, women's body mass, height, and weight increased relative to men. Darker complexioned individuals had heavier weights and greater BMIs than their taller, fairer complexioned European counterparts, indicating that the traditional antebellum paradox needs to include women and non-European males and weight measures.
Subjects: 
gender
race
stature variation
cumulative net nutrition
nativity
JEL: 
C10
C40
D10
I10
N30
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.