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The Height and Weight of West Point Cadets: Dietary Change in Antebellum America

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Author Info
Komlos, John

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Abstract

A decline in nutritional status is inferred from data on the height and weight of West Point cadets in the antebellum period. The decline was geographically widespread and affected farmers and blue-collar workers the most; middle-class cadets did not experience a decline in nutritional status until the Civil War. Nutritional status declined because meat output did not keep pace with population growth. Urbanization and the expansion of the industrial labor force increased the demand for food. However, the agricultural labor force grew at a slower pace, and productivity growth in food production was insufficient to redress the imbalance.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Cambridge University Press in its journal The Journal of Economic History.

Volume (Year): 47 (1987)
Issue (Month): 04 (December)
Pages: 897-927
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Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:47:y:1987:i:04:p:897-927_04

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  1. Michael R. Haines, 2001. "The Urban Mortality Transition in the United States, 1800-1940," NBER Historical Working Papers 0134, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Lynne L. Kiesling & Robert A. Margo, 1996. "Explaining the Rise in Antebellum Pauperism: New Evidence," NBER Historical Working Papers 0092, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Claudia D. Goldin & Robert A. Margo, 1987. "The Poor at Birth: Infant Auxology and Mortality at Philadelphia's Almshouse Hospital, 1848-1873," NBER Working Papers 2525, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Komlos, John & Meermann, Lukas, 2004. "The Introduction of Anthropometrics into Development and Labor Economics," Discussion Papers in Economics 381, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Scott A. Carson, 2007. "Health during Industrialization: Evidence from the 19th Century Pennsylvania State Prison System," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  6. Ulrich Woitek, 1998. "Height Cycles in the 18th and 19th Centuries," Working Papers 9811, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Sven Wilson, 2003. "The Prevalence of Chronic Respiratory Disease in the Industrial Era.The United States, 1895–1910," NBER Chapters, in: Health and Labor Force Participation over the Life Cycle: Evidence from the Past, pages 147-180 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  8. Giovanni Vecchi & Michela Coppola, 2004. "Nutrition And Growth In Italy, 1861-1911 What Macroeconomic Data Hide," Working Papers in Economic History wh043101, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Historia Económica e Instituciones. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Scott A. Carson, 2008. "Demographic, Residential, and Socioeconomic Effects on the Distribution of 19th Century African-American Stature," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  10. Scott A. Carson, 2007. "African-American and White Inequality in the American South: Evidence from the 19th Century Missouri State Prison," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  11. Lee A. Craig & Thomas Weiss, 1997. "Nutritional Status and Agricultural Surpluses in the Antebellum United States," NBER Historical Working Papers 0099, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Scott A. Carson, 2008. "Geography and Insolation in 19th Century US African-American and White Statures," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  13. Komlos, John, 2009. "How useful is anthropometric history?," Discussion Papers in Economics 10587, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  14. Komlos, John & Baten, Jörg, 2003. "Looking Backward and Looking Forward: Anthropometric Research and the Development of Social Science History," Discussion Papers in Economics 59, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  15. Michael R. Haines & Lee A. Craig & Thomas Weiss, 2000. "Development, Health, Nutrition, and Mortality: The Case of the 'Antebellum Puzzle' in the United States," NBER Historical Working Papers 0130, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Areendam Chanda & Lee A. Craig & Julianne Treme, . "Convergence (and Divergence) in the Biological Standard of Living in the United States, 1820-1900," Departmental Working Papers 2007-01, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University. [Downloadable!]
  17. Scott A. Carson, 2009. "Demographic, Residential, and Socioeconomic Effects on the Distribution of 19th Century US White Statures," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  18. Komlos, John & Baur, Marieluise, 2003. "From the Tallest to (One of) the Fattest: The Enigmatic Fate of the American Population in the 20th Century," Discussion Papers in Economics 76, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  19. John Komlos & Ariane Breitfelder & Marco Sunder, 2008. "The Transition to Post-industrial BMI Values Among US Children," NBER Working Papers 13898, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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