The Short and the Dead: Nutrition, Mortality, and the “Antebellum Puzzle” in the United States

Haines, Michael R.; Craig, Lee A.; Weiß, Thomas

doi:10.1017/s0022050703001839

Cited by 128 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…To investigate this issue, Table 3 1998), and average male adult height in the U.S. fell by over 3 cm between 1830 and 1880 (Haines et. al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data

Brainerd

2006

SSRN Journal

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte.

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“…To investigate this issue, Table 3 1998), and average male adult height in the U.S. fell by over 3 cm between 1830 and 1880 (Haines et. al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data

Brainerd

2006

SSRN Journal

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“…In 2000 Haines, Craig and Weiss returned to the issue of the local disease environment and of the local availability of nutrients -first raised by Craig and Weiss (1998) In an analysis similar to Haines Craig and Weiss (2003), Wilson and Pope (2003) tested the effect of local conditions on height, but in addition to using county level variables, they used household-level data from the county of residence in 1850 instead of the county of birth as do Haines et al (2003). In contrast to the latter paper they find that calorie output did not affect height (p. 116).…”

Section: Blacks Whitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Three-Decade 'Kuhnian' History of the Antebellum Puzzle: Explaining the Shrinking of the US Population at the Onset of Modern Economic Growth

Komlos

2012

SSRN Journal

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In 1979, when anthropometric history was still in its infancy, Robert Fogel and collaborators reported that the height of the US male white population began to decline quite unexpectedly around the birth cohorts of 1830. This was quite a conundrum on account of the fact that according to conventional economic theory nutritional status was not expected to diminish at the outset of modern economic growth, i.e., at a time when incomes were growing robustly.Although many hypotheses were offered, not until 1987 was the comprehensive solution to the puzzle offered that the height decline was due primarily to a decline in food consumption: agricultural productivity did not keep pace with rapid population growth and urbanization.However, it took a third of a century for a Kuhnian paradigm shift to occur until most of the participants in the debate accepted the model elucidated by Komlos in 1987.JEL: B20, B25, N00

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“…In fact, the analysis of Haines et al (2003) suggests that the height of the soldiers of the Union Army varied mainly due to differentials in environmental conditions and somewhat less importantly with diets. This aspect is especially problematic for the presence of tuberculosis in early-life as it will lead to reverse causation (although as we noted before, this problem is more severe in the sample of soldiers unfit for service).…”

Section: Early-life Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airborne diseases: Tuberculosis in the Union Army

Birchenall

2011

Explorations in Economic History

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This paper examines the medical histories of a sample of 25,000 Union Army soldiers and veterans to study the determinants of diagnosis, discharge, and mortality from tuberculosis. We find that water and airborne diseases during the war contributed significantly to the presence of tuberculosis. Height and a higher body mass index (BMI) are also associated with protection against TB but these effects are not always robust. As an upper bound, we estimate that the contribution of modern gains in height and in BMI to the mortality decline of tuberculosis ranges from one-fourth to one-half with the rest explained by the decline in the prevalence of water and airborne diseases, especially diarrhea, dysentery, and typhoid played. The paper finds weaker support for alternative hypotheses that rely on occupational influences and exogenous changes in the virulence of tuberculosis.

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The Short and the Dead: Nutrition, Mortality, and the “Antebellum Puzzle” in the United States

Cited by 128 publications

References 19 publications

Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data

Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data

A Three-Decade 'Kuhnian' History of the Antebellum Puzzle: Explaining the Shrinking of the US Population at the Onset of Modern Economic Growth

Airborne diseases: Tuberculosis in the Union Army

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