TY  - JOUR
AU  - Haines,Michael R.
AU  - Steckel,Richard H.
TI  - Childhood Mortality & Nutritional Status as Indicators of Standard of Living: Evidence from World War I Recruits in the United States
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Historical Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 121
PY  - 2000
Y2  - January 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/h0121
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/h0121.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Michael R. Haines
Department of Economics, 217 Persson Hall
Colgate University
13 Oak Drive
Hamilton, NY 13346
Tel: 315/228-7536
Fax: 315/228-7033
E-Mail: MHAINES@MAIL.COLGATE.EDU

Richard H. Steckel
Department of Economics
Ohio State University
410 Arps Hall, 1945 North High Street
Columbus, OH  43210-1172
Tel: 614/292-5008
Fax: 614/292-3906
E-Mail: steckel.1@osu.edu
AB  - This paper examines variations in stature and the Body Mass Index (BMI) across space for the United States in 1917/18, using published data on the measurement of approximately 890,000 recruits for the American Army for World War I.  It also connects those anthropometric measurements with an index of childhood mortality estimated from the censuses of 1900 and 1910.  This index is taken to be an indicator of early childhood environment for these recruits.  Aggregated data were published for states and groups of counties by the Surgeon General after the war. These data are related to regional data taken primarily from the censuses of 1900 and 1910.  The results indicate that early childhood mortality was a good (negative) predictor of height and the body mass index, while it is also possible to predict early childhood experience from terminal adult height.  Urbanization was important, although the importance declined over time. Income apparently had little effect on health in this period.
ER  -