Nineteenth Century Black and Mixed-Race Physical Activity, Calories, and Life Expectancy: Nutrition, Sanitation, or Medical Intervention?

Abstract

Using data from late 19th and early twentieth century US prisons, this study considers how black and mixed-race basal metabolic rates and calories varied with economic development. During the nineteenth century, African-American physical activity and net nutrition decreased across their BMR and calorie distributions, and increasing black life expectancy indicates that decreasing mortality was not likely due to improved nutrition. Physically active farmers had greater BMRs and required more calories per day than workers in other occupations. Black diets, nutrition, and calories varied by residence, and rural blacks in the Deep South required the most calories per day, while their Northeastern urban counterparts required the least. Policy implications are that public sanitation facilities may be of greater import than nutrition during economic development.