IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v7y2009i1p109-112.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Recent growth of children in the two Koreas: A meta-analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Schwekendiek, Daniel
  • Pak, Sunyoung

Abstract

Height differences between the two Koreas were injected into the U.S. presidential debate. The purpose of this article is to report briefly the height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) differences between North and South Korean children by using previous sources and new data. This study employs South Korean data published by the Korean Research Institute for Standards and Science in 1997 and by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards in 2004, comparing them to North Korean data stemming from the 1997 and 2002 nutritional surveys conducted by the United Nations. Furthermore, this article makes use of anthropometric measurements of North Korean refugee children immigrating to South Korea from 2000 to 2007. In 1997, South Korean preschool children were found on average to be 6-7cm (2-3in.) taller and about 3kg (6.6 pounds) heavier than their Northern counterparts; in 2002, the average gap was about 8cm (3in.) and 3kg (6.6 pounds), and the BMI gap was about 1. North Korean boys and girls escaping to South Korea were also found to be on average about 3-4cm (1-1.6in.) shorter and 1kg (2.2 pounds) lighter than their Southern peers.

Suggested Citation

  • Schwekendiek, Daniel & Pak, Sunyoung, 2009. "Recent growth of children in the two Koreas: A meta-analysis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 109-112, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:7:y:2009:i:1:p:109-112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570-677X(09)00002-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schwekendiek, Daniel, 2008. "Determinants of well-being in North Korea: Evidence from the post-famine period," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 446-454, December.
    2. Schwekendiek, Daniel, 2008. "The North Korean standard of living during the famine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 596-608, February.
    3. John Komlos & Peter Kriwy, 2003. "The Biological Standard of Living in the Two Germanies," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 4, pages 459-473, November.
    4. Komlos John & Kriwy Peter, 2003. "The Biological Standard of Living in the Two Germanies," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 4(4), pages 459-473, December.
    5. Pak, Sunyoung, 2004. "The biological standard of living in the two Koreas," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 511-518, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yoon Jung Kim & Sin Gon Kim & Yo Han Lee, 2018. "Prevalence of General and Central Obesity and Associated Factors among North Korean Refugees in South Korea by Duration after Defection from North Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Alícia Adserà & Francesca Dalla Pozza & Sergei Guriev & Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp & Elena Nikolova, 2021. "Height and well-being during the transition from plan to market," Economic Policy, CEPR;CES;MSH, vol. 36(105), pages 77-120.
    3. Blum, Matthias, 2013. "The influence of inequality on the standard of living: Worldwide anthropometric evidence from the 19th and 20th centuries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 436-452.
    4. Adserà, Alicia & Dalla Pozza, Francesca & Guriev, Sergei & Kleine-Rueschkamp, Lukas & Nikolova, Elena, 2019. "Transition, height and well-being," GLO Discussion Paper Series 404, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Jun, Seong Ho & Lewis, James B. & Schwekendiek, Daniel, 2017. "The biological standard of living in pre-modern Korea: Determinants of height of militia recruits during the Chosŏn dynasty," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 104-110.
    6. Pak, Sunyoung, 2010. "The growth status of North Korean refugee children and adolescents from 6 to 19 years of age," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 385-395, December.
    7. Ulijaszek, Stanley & Schwekendiek, Daniel, 2013. "Intercontinental differences in overweight of adopted Koreans in the United States and Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 345-350.
    8. Syngjoo Choi & Byung-Yeon Kim & Jungmin Lee & Sokbae Lee, 2021. "Why North Korean Refugees are Reluctant to Compete: The Roles of Cognitive Ability," Papers 2108.08097, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.
    9. Syngjoo Choi & Byung-Yeon Kim & Jungmin Lee & Sokbae Lee, 2020. "Institutions, Competitiveness and Cognitive Ability," Working Paper Series no134, Institute of Economic Research, Seoul National University.
    10. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Rindermann, Heiner & Christainsen, Gregory, 2014. "Cognitive capital, governance, and the wealth of nations," MPRA Paper 57563, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Adsera, Alicia & Dalla Pozza, Francesca & Guriev, Sergei & Kleine-Rueschkamp, Lukas & Nikolova, Elena, 2019. "Transition from Plan to Market, Height and Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 12658, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steckel, Richard H., 2009. "Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-23, January.
    2. Pak, Sunyoung, 2010. "The growth status of North Korean refugee children and adolescents from 6 to 19 years of age," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 385-395, December.
    3. Sunyoung Pak & Daniel Schwekendiek & Hee Kyoung Kim, 2011. "Height and living standards in North Korea, 1930s–1980s," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(s1), pages 142-158, February.
    4. Alberto Batinti & Joan Costa‐Font & Timothy J. Hatton, 2022. "Voting Up? The Effects of Democracy and Franchise Extension on Human Stature," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(353), pages 161-190, January.
    5. Blum, Matthias, 2013. "The influence of inequality on the standard of living: Worldwide anthropometric evidence from the 19th and 20th centuries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 436-452.
    6. Akachi, Yoko & Canning, David, 2015. "Inferring the economic standard of living and health from cohort height: Evidence from modern populations in developing countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 114-128.
    7. Jun, Seong Ho & Lewis, James B. & Schwekendiek, Daniel, 2017. "The biological standard of living in pre-modern Korea: Determinants of height of militia recruits during the Chosŏn dynasty," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 104-110.
    8. Cvrcek, Tomas, 2009. "Inequality and living standards under early communism: Anthropometric evidence from Czechoslovakia, 1946-1966," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 436-449, October.
    9. Matthias Blum & Matthias Strebel, 2015. "Max Weber and the First World War: Protestant and Catholic living standards in Germany, 1915-1919," Economics Working Papers 15-04, Queen's Management School, Queen's University Belfast.
    10. Akachi, Yoko & Canning, David, 2015. "Inferring the economic standard of living and health from cohort height: Evidence from modern populations in developing countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 114-128.
    11. Komlos, John & Lauderdale, Benjamin E., 2006. "Underperformance in affluence: the remarkable relative decline in American heights in the second half of the 20th-century," Discussion Papers in Economics 1241, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    12. Zellner, Konrad & Jaeger, Uwe & Kromeyer-Hauschild, Katrin, 2004. "Height, weight and BMI of schoolchildren in Jena, Germany--are the secular changes levelling off?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 281-294, June.
    13. Hiermeyer, Martin, 2008. "The trade-off between a high and an equal biological standard of living--Evidence from Germany," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 431-445, December.
    14. Hübler, Olaf, 2006. "The Nonlinear Link between Height and Wages: An Empirical Investigation," IZA Discussion Papers 2394, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Komlos, John & Baur, Marieluise, 2004. "From the tallest to (one of) the fattest: the enigmatic fate of the American population in the 20th century," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 57-74, March.
    16. Joan Costa-i-Font & Lucia Kossarova, 2015. "Anthropometric Dividends of Czechoslovakia’s Break Up," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 95, European Institute, LSE.
    17. 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.
    18. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Rindermann, Heiner & Christainsen, Gregory, 2014. "Cognitive capital, governance, and the wealth of nations," MPRA Paper 57563, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Blum, Matthias & Hanley, Nicholas & McLaughlin, Eoin, 2013. "Genuine savings and future well-being in Germany, 1850-2000," Stirling Economics Discussion Papers 2013-13, University of Stirling, Division of Economics.
    20. Olaf Hübler, 2013. "Are Tall People Less Risk Averse Than Others?," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 133(1), pages 23-42.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:7:y:2009:i:1:p:109-112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.