Height, Wealth, and Disease among the Native-born in the Rural, Antebellum North

Abstract

Height at young and adult ages reflects the cumulative nutritional experience of the individual both during the growth years and during the fetal period. Hence, mean height in a population is not only an indicator of economic fortune but also a predictor of morbidity and mortality (Waaler 1984; Barker et al. 1990; Fogel, Haines, et al. 1991; Costa 1993). Economic historians have been able to use time series of heights to describe trends in economic well-being and in mortality (Fogel, Engerman, and Trussell 1982; Margo and Steckel 1982; Fogel 1986; Brinkman et al. 1988; Floud et al. 1990). Cross-sectional analyses of the determinants of heights have provided clues to changes in morbidity and mortality trends. Investigations of heights have taken advantage of the significant quantities of military records that are available. The data obtained from military muster rolls for the United States consist of name, age, height, occupation, place and date of enlistment, and place of birth.