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The articles published by the Annals of Eugenics (1925–1954) have been made available online as an historical archive intended for scholarly use. The work of eugenicists was often pervaded by prejudice against racial, ethnic and disabled groups. The online publication of this material for scholarly research purposes is not an endorsement of those views nor a promotion of eugenics in any way.

It was concluded in a previous paper (Billewicz, Kemsley, and Thomson, 1962) that the ratio of observed to standard weight is the simplest and most reliable index of adiposity, provided that the standard is suitably chosen. This ratio has obvious advantages: it is easy to calculate, the values obtained do not depend on the units of measurement, and if the mathematical model presented in the previous paper gives a good approximation to reality the ratio should also yield results which are clinically and statistically consistent. The idea of using the ratio of observed to standard weight as an index to adiposity is, of course, not new. Indices of this type have been used in the past, though lately there has been a tendency to use instead various "formula" indices, notably the "Ponderal Index". We suspect that the reluctance of research workers to use standard weights stems from the difficulty of finding suitable standards and from the idea that the use of standards implies the acceptance of standards as "ideal" or "desirable" weights. In this paper we present British weight-for-height standards, examine the properties of the ratio of observed to standard weight, and consider the applicability of this ratio to a variety of situations.The weight-for-height standard most commonly used in Britain is derived from the actuarial data collected in America towards the end of the 19th century (Medico-Actuarial Investigation, 1912

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The 1953‐54 enquiry relied on record books for most of the information on expenditure. These records were kept by each household for a period of three weeks, and this paper examines the variation between the three weeks for a wide range of items. The existence of a significant difference between expenditure in the first week and the other two weeks is demonstrated, and the variation in this difference analysed by type of area and season of the year.