title: The relationship between 19th century BMIs and family size: Economies of scale and positive externalities.
abstract: The use of body mass index values (BMI) to measure living standards is now a well-accepted method in economics. Nevertheless, a neglected area in historical studies is the relationship between 19th century BMI and family size, and this relationship is documented here to be positive. Material inequality and BMI are the subject of considerable debate, and there was a positive relationship between BMI and wealth and an inverse relationship with inequality. After controlling for family size and wealth, BMI values were related with occupations, and farmers and laborers had greater BMI values than workers in other occupations.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas, Permian Basin, 4901 East University, Odessa, TX 79762, USA; University of Münich and CESifo, Shackstrasse 4, 80539 Münich, Germany. Electronic address: Carson_S@utpb.edu.
authors.forename: Scott Alan
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Carson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D000067896:Industrial Development / Q000266:history; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations / Q000266:history; D011156:Population Density; D011329:Prisoners / Q000266:history; D012923:Social Class / Q000266:history; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors / Q000266:history; D014481:United States