title: The biological standard of living (and its convergence) in Colombia, 1870-2003. A tropical success story.
abstract: During the 20th century, the evolution of the biological standard of living in Colombia was a tropical success story from the point of view of the secular increase in height as well as the reduction of inequality. During the period 1905-1985 the average height of females and males increased by nearly 9 cm on the basis of 9 million records examined from National Identification Cards. We also study the evolution of height of Colombians on the basis of passport records. The elite group of passport holders was much taller than average, and remained stable for the birth cohorts of 1870-1919. In the early 20th century the height of passport recipients was 168.7 cm (men) and 158 cm (women) compared with 162 cm and 150 cm for heights in the national ID cards. The results also show that Colombians experienced significant regional and intrapersonal convergence in height.
authors.affiliation: Banco de la República (Central Bank of Colombia), Centro de Estudios Económicos Regionales CEER, Centro Calle 33 #3-123, Cartagena, Colombia. ameisero@banrep.gov.co
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meisel
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vega
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D004467:Economics / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006708:Homicide / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D017062:Small-Area Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors