The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World Since 1700

Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 13
Copyright......Page 14
Dedication......Page 15
Contents......Page 17
Figures......Page 20
Tables......Page 23
Acknowledgements......Page 27
1 Our changing bodies: 300 years of technophysio evolution......Page 29
1.1 A schema: technophysio evolution......Page 31
1.2 The “standard of living” and “nutritional status”......Page 34
1.3 Understanding technophysio evolution......Page 43
2.1 Food consumption (diet) and energy cost accounting......Page 69
2.1.1 Energy cost accounting......Page 71
2.1.2 Sources of information on diet......Page 74
2.2 Size distribution of calories......Page 77
2.3 Waaler curves and surfaces......Page 85
2.3.1 Issues in the construction of Waaler curves and surfaces......Page 89
2.3.2 Uses of anthropometric measures to explain secular trends in mortality rates......Page 96
2.4 Scenarios of the possible distribution of the calories available for work in Britain......Page 100
A.1 Some theoretical considerations......Page 105
A.1.2 The nutritional component of the model......Page 107
A.1.3 The demographic/epidemiological component of the model......Page 109
A.1.4 Interpretation of the model......Page 112
Appendix B Lognormal distribution......Page 113
3.1 Estimating the income distribution of households and identifying the location of the ultrapoor and the average income of households in England for 1759 and 1801......Page 117
3.2 Problems in estimating the income elasticity of demand for food from cross-sectional data rather than longitudinal data......Page 125
3.3 Assessing the productivity of food production in France, 1705 and 1785......Page 133
3.3.1 Labor productivity in food production......Page 134
3.3.2 The caloric productivity ratio over the eighteenth century......Page 140
3.4 The nature of European famines......Page 144
3.5 How variations in body size brought the population and the food supply into balance and affected the level of mortality......Page 147
3.6 Contribution of improved nutrition and health to the growth of labor productivity......Page 153
3.7 Some implications for the theory and measurement of economic growth......Page 156
Appendix C Estimating the effect of changes in stature and weight on the discounted present value of the difference between earnings and maintenance over the life cycle......Page 159
4.1 Height, weight, and body mass......Page 162
4.2 Mortality......Page 173
4.3 Wages, nutrition, and the standard of living......Page 179
4.4 Diet, nutrition, and work intensity......Page 192
4.5 The contribution of other factors to the decline of mortality......Page 198
4.6 Morbidity......Page 208
4.7 Cohort factors and mortality change......Page 214
Appendix D......Page 223
5.1 The anthropometric history of continental Europe......Page 254
5.2 The decline of mortality in continental Europe......Page 270
5.3 Economic and social change in continental Europe since 1700......Page 286
5.4 Health and economic development......Page 306
5.5 Future prospects......Page 312
Appendix E......Page 318
6 The American experience of technophysio evolution......Page 324
6.1 Elimination of chronic malnutrition......Page 328
6.1.1 Technological breakthroughs in food production......Page 329
6.1.2 Food consumption and diet......Page 339
6.1.3 Hours at work and labor intensity......Page 345
6.1.4 Combating diseases......Page 348
6.2.1 Changes in height and BMI under technological advances......Page 358
6.2.2 Issues in birth weight......Page 365
6.2.3 Body size and relative risk of mortality......Page 368
6.2.4 The relevance of disease and disability to body size......Page 372
6.2.5 Labor productivity, inequalities, and generational effects......Page 375
6.3 Recent trends and future prospects......Page 378
6.3.1 From undernutrition to overnutrition......Page 381
6.3.2 Health inequality by sex, race, and income......Page 383
Appendix F......Page 390
7 Conclusion......Page 392
7.1 What has been achieved and is now in prospect?......Page 393
7.2 Will these improvements continue?......Page 396
7.3 What is still to be achieved?......Page 398
7.4 Possible constraints......Page 400
7.5 Conclusion......Page 402
References......Page 404
Index......Page 451