Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/128323 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5629
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
When other economic measurements are scarce or unreliable, height and the body mass index (BMI) are now well accepted measures for cumulative and current net nutrition. However, as the ratio of weight to height, BMI is the ratio of current to cumulative net nutrition, therefore, does not fully isolate changes in current net nutrition. This study uses weight after controlling for height as a measure for current net nutrition and shows that US black and white weights decreased throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were higher in the South, and for farmers and unskilled workers. Like stature and BMI, 19th century weight was higher in states with greater average wealth and population density and lower in states with greater wealth inequality.
Subjects: 
weight
current net nutrition
wealth
inequality
JEL: 
I10
J11
J71
N31
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.