Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/26608 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 2563
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Using a source of 19th century US state prison records, this study addresses European-American stature variation. The most commonly cited sources for stature variation are diets, disease, and work effort. However, vitamin D is also vital in human statures and health. This paper demonstrates that 19th century white statures were positively associated with direct sunlight, which is the primary source of vitamin D in mammals. Stature and insolation are associated with occupations, and workers who spent more time outdoors produced more vitamin D and grew taller. White statures also decreased throughout the 19th century, and this stature diminution is observed across the stature distribution.
Subjects: 
19th US white statures
vitamin D
solar radiation
quantile regression
JEL: 
I30
I31
J00
J15
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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