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Historical trends in height, weight, and body mass: Data from U.S. Major League Baseball players, 1869-1983

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  • Saint Onge, Jarron M.
  • Krueger, Patrick M.
  • Rogers, Richard G.

Abstract

We employ a unique dataset of Major League Baseball (MLB) players - a select, healthy population - to examine trends in height, weight, and body mass in birth cohorts from 1869 to 1983. Over that 115-year time period, U.S. born MLB players have gained, on average, approximately 3Â in. (7.6Â cm) in height and 27.0Â lb (12.2Â kg) in weight, which has contributed a 1.6-unit increase in the body mass index. Where comparable data are available, U.S. born MLB players are about 2.0Â in. (5.1Â cm) taller and 20.0Â lb (9.1Â kg) heavier but substantially less obese than males in the general U.S. population. But both groups exhibit similar height and weight trends; the majority of height and weight gains take place in cohorts that were born prior to World War II, followed by slower gains and occasional declines in height and weight for cohorts born in 1939 and later.

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  • Saint Onge, Jarron M. & Krueger, Patrick M. & Rogers, Richard G., 2008. "Historical trends in height, weight, and body mass: Data from U.S. Major League Baseball players, 1869-1983," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 482-488, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:6:y:2008:i:3:p:482-488
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
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    5. Rashad, Inas, 2008. "Height, health, and income in the US, 1984-2005," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 108-126, March.
    6. John Komlos & Benjamin E. Lauderdale, 2007. "Underperformance in Affluence: The Remarkable Relative Decline in U.S. Heights in the Second Half of the 20th Century," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 88(2), pages 283-305, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Carrieri, Vincenzo & De Paola, Maria, 2012. "Height and subjective well-being in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 289-298.
    2. Yamamura, Eiji, 2013. "Is body mass human capital in sports? Outcome of globalization of sumo wrestling and generation of human capital in Japan," MPRA Paper 44692, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Bodenhorn, Howard & Guinnane, Timothy W. & Mroz, Thomas A., 2017. "Sample-Selection Biases and the Industrialization Puzzle," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 171-207, March.
    4. Raufhon Salahodjaev & Nargiza Ibragimova, 2020. "Height and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Russia," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 219-237, March.
    5. Bodenhorn, Howard, 2010. "Height and body mass index values of nineteenth-century New York legislators," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 121-126, March.
    6. Yamamura, Eiji, 2014. "Is body mass human capital in sumo? Outcome of globalization and formation of human capital in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 53-71.
    7. Howard Bodenhorn & Gregory Price, 2009. "Crime and Body Weight in the Nineteenth Century: Was there a Relationship between Brawn, Employment Opportunities and Crime?," NBER Working Papers 15099, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Perkins, Jessica M. & Khan, Kashif T. & Smith, George Davey & Subramanian, S.V., 2011. "Patterns and trends of adult height in India in 2005-2006," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 184-193, March.
    9. Anna Farkas & Márta Szmodis, 2019. "About the Secular Growth Trend," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 17(4), pages 13003-13005, April.
    10. Böckerman, Petri & Johansson, Edvard & Kiiskinen, Urpo & Heliövaara, Markku, 2010. "The relationship between physical work and the height premium: Finnish evidence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 414-420, December.

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