Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/198933 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 7573
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
When traditional measures for material and economic welfare are scarce or unreliable, height and the body mass index (BMI) are now widely accepted measures that represent cumulative and current net nutrition in development studies. However, as the ratio of weight to height, BMI does not fully isolate the effects of current net nutrition. After controlling for height as a measure for current net nutrition, this study uses the weight of a sample of international men in US prisons. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, individuals with darker complexions had greater weights than individuals with fairer complexions. Mexican and Asian populations in the US had lower weights and reached shorter statures. Black and white weights stagnated throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Agricultural workers’ had greater weights than workers in other occupations.
Subjects: 
weight
19th century current net nutrition
US race relations
JEL: 
I10
J11
J71
N31
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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