Geography, insolation, and vitamin D in nineteenth century US African-American and white statures

Biological Conditions and Economic Development

“…Ranchers-who had better access to meat and dairy products, providing protein and calcium-were taller than farmers, who in turn were taller than white-collar and skilled workers (Table 3). Moreover, farm and ranch laborers were taller than common laborers, presenting strong evidence that farmers, ranchers, and farm laborers lived in rural areas with superior biological conditions (Carson 2009b;Komlos 1985Komlos , 2012.…”

“…Komlos (1987) shows that for nineteenth-century whites, nutrition deteriorated with the separation of food production from food consumption as a result of urbanization and industrialization. Nineteenth-century African-Americans were shorter than whites (Carson 2009b;Steckel 1979). Blacks, however, did not experience the antebellum paradox.…”

“…For example, bone growth is related to milk and calcium consumption (Wiley 2005). Stature is also related to access to vitamin D, and individuals in geographic regions that receive less solar radiation are, on average, shorter than individuals who live in areas that receive more (Carson 2008(Carson , 2009bSilventoinen 2003). Modern white and black statures are comparable when people grow up under similar biological conditions (Fogel and Engerman 1974).…”

“…Blacks, however, did not experience the antebellum paradox. Black stature increased prior to emancipation but decreased in the decades after the Civil War (Carson 2008(Carson , 2009bFogel et al 1978a;Komlos 1992;Rees et al 2003;Steckel 1986). Wealth is a cumulative measure of the difference between income and expenditures.…”

Biological Conditions and Economic Development: Westward Expansion and Health in Late Nineteenth‐ and Early Twentieth‐Century Montana

“…9 The Montana prison data also have an advantage because other prison enumerators typically did not distinguish between common and farm laborers, and the result is that common laborer statures are likely overstated, while farm laborer statures are underestimated. 10 Montana's agricultural laborers were consistently taller than common laborers, indicating that agricultural laborers received better net cumulative nutrition during key growth years compared to common laborers, and the distinction between common and agricultural occupations is important. White-collar and skilled workers also reached comparable statures with common unskilled workers.…”