Mon Jun 30 11:39:04 EDT 2003
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I thought you might be interested in the following downloadable paper:
>From the Tallest in the World to (One of) the Fattest: The Enigmatic Fate of
the Size of the American Population in the Twentieth Century
John Komlos and Marielouise Baur
Abstract:
Within the course of the 20th century the American population went through a
metamorphosis from being the tallest in the world, to being among the most
overweight. The American height advantage over Western and Northern
Europeans was between 3-9 cm in the middle of the 19th century. Americans
were also underweight. However, today, the exact opposite is the case as the
Dutch, Swedes, and Norwegians are the tallest, and the Danes, British and
Germans - even the East-Germans - are also taller, towering over the
Americans by as much as 3-7 cm. Americans also live shorter. The hypothesis
is worth considering that this adverse development is related to the greater
social inequality, an inferior health-care system, and fewer social safety
nets in the United States than in Western and Northern Europe, in spite of
higher per capita income. The West- and Northern European welfare states,
with cradle to grave health and unemployment insurance currently provide a
more propitious environment for the biological standard of living than its
US counterpart.
Key words: Height, Biological Standard of Living, Welfare State,
Anthropometric history, social inequality, health
JEL: D60, I10, I31, J15, N00; P50
The URL is: http://www.vwl.uni-muenchen.de/ls_komlos/fattest.pdf
I would be interested in comments, suggestions, critiques, or any other
communication from you.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
John Komlos
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