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100 Years of Heights and Weights

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  • S. Rosenbaum

Abstract

Height and weight data for Great Britain exist back to 1883 (Report of the Anthropometric Committee of the British Association) and even before. These have been reviewed up to the present date: in particular, a long series for army recruits has been analysed, helping considerably in establishing a trend, and recent surveys have established a secure base for future comparisons at national level. But many other sets of data fit the general pattern of increasing heights and weights over the past century at all ages. Quetelet's index w/h2 is recommended as a good indicator of ‘weight for height’ in adult populations; for children it is still at the descriptive stage. A method is suggested for calculating the index and its limits when the complete distribution of heights and weights is unknown, as in many historical series. Finally, class differences are investigated and appear to have narrowed over a century.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Rosenbaum, 1988. "100 Years of Heights and Weights," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 151(2), pages 276-309, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:151:y:1988:i:2:p:276-309
    DOI: 10.2307/2982758
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    Cited by:

    1. Hatton, Timothy J. & Bray, Bernice E., 2010. "Long run trends in the heights of European men, 19th-20th centuries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 405-413, December.
    2. Pei Gao & Eric B. Schneider, 2021. "The growth pattern of British children, 1850–1975," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 341-371, May.
    3. Hatton, Timothy J. & Martin, Richard M., 2010. "Fertility decline and the heights of children in Britain, 1886-1938," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 505-519, October.
    4. Manuel Llorca-Jaña & Juan Navarrete-Montalvo & Roberto Araya-Valenzuela & Federico Droller & Martina Allende & Javier Rivas, 2021. "Height in twentieth-century Chilean men: growth with divergence," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 15(1), pages 135-166, January.
    5. Roderick Floud, 1998. "Height, Weight, and Body Mass of the British Population Since 1820," NBER Historical Working Papers 0108, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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