Inequality in the American South: evidence from the nineteenth century missouri state prison

The use of height data to measure living standards is now a well-established method in economic history. Moreover, a number of core findings in the literature are widely agreed upon. There are still some populations, places and times, however, for which anthropometric evidence remains thin. One example is 19th century African-Americans in US border-states. This paper introduces a new data set from the Missouri state prison to track the heights of comparable black and white men born between 1820 and 1904. Modern blacks and whites come to comparable terminal statures when brought to maturity under optimal conditions; however, whites were persistently taller than blacks in the Missouri prison sample by two centimetres. Throughout the 19th century, black and white adult statures remained approximately constant, while black youth stature increased during the antebellum period.     

Trends in stature in the South Australian Aboriginal Murraylands

Millennial and secular changes in body height of prehistoric and recent Aboriginal South Australians are investigated. Skeletal remains of 55 male and 40 female individuals who were excavated at Roonka on the River Murray were dated from 9800 to 100 years BP. Stature was reconstructed by using humerus, femur, and tibia ratios to stature derived from Abbie's (1975) data on living Aborigines and the Trotter-Gleser method for blacks. The respective averages were 1,652 mm and 1,665 mm for males and 1,527 mm and 1,549 mm for females. In 1996/1997, statures of 27 adult males and 21 adult females were measured in Aboriginal centers of Gerard and Raukkan (Point McLeay) on the Lower River Murray. These people, as far as it can be ascertained, are the descendants of the people from Roonka. Their statures were adjusted for the stature loss with age, so that the data represent young individuals (≤30 years of age). The average male stature was 1,712 mm, and the average female stature was 1,567 mm. Data collected by Wood Jones and Campbell in 1924 for Aboriginal South Australians show that young adult male stature was 1,668 mm (n = 6), and female stature was 1,552 mm (n = 4). Slopes of regressions of individual statures on radiocarbon dates and on dates of birth are not significantly different from zero. The same is true for regressions of individual long bone lengths on radiocarbon dates. It can be concluded that there was little change in stature of Aboriginal South Australians from prehistoric to recent times. Regressions of individual age-corrected heights on birth dates (1860–1980) of Aboriginal men and women measured in 1924 and in 1996 further indicate no significant increase in height in either sex. Am J Phys Anthropol 106:505–514, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Stature,migration and human welfare in South China, 1850–1930

This paper offers new evidence on human stature in south China during the second half of the 19th century and early part of the 20th. It is based on the records kept by the Government of Canada of 97,123 Chinese immigrants who were required to pay an entry tax between 1885 and 1949. While the study population included both sexes and all ages from infancy to old age, it was largely male, with most ages falling between 12 and 50. The data reveal an increase of over 4 cm in the adult heights of both sexes between 1850 and 1930. They also indicate an upward trend of over 5 cm in the heights of adolescent males. The mean heights of male immigrants fall in the lower range of those reported in other studies of stature in south China. The rising trends contrast with a pattern of stagnation and decline reported in other recent findings but are consistent with other recent evidence of increasing economic growth, real wages, and life expectancy in south China during this period. One likely cause of improved well-being is the influence of the migrants’ remittances on socioeconomic change in south China.     

The evolution of adult height across Spanish regions, 1950–1980: A new source of data

We present new evidence concerning the evolution of adult height across Spanish regions for the 1950–1980 male and female birth cohorts, using the augmented sample of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for Spain. This augmented sample, available only for the year 2000, contains self-reported height data representative at the Autonomous Community level. The average heights of these two sets of birth cohorts, female and male, are found to increase by 1.7 and 1.6 cm/decade, respectively. Making available a new dataset of quinquennial mean heights will allow researchers to study the determinants of population heights by means of a within-country analysis.     

The effect of high birth weight (400 g or more) on the weight and height of adult men and women

Three hundred and twenty eight examined adult men and 346 examined adult women were macrosomic at birth (4000 g or over). The control group consisted of 564 adult men and 749 adult women with birth weights of 2500 to 3999 g. Both male and female macrosomic babies achieve greater weights and heights in adulthood than those in the control group. There are more overweight and obese men in the macrosomic group than in the control group and the same is true of the women (p < 0.001). The mean values of the BMI (body mass index) for the macrosomic adults are greater than those for the control group (p < 0.001). Fetal macrosomia is a good predictor of the weight and height of adult men and women.     

Sex Differences in Feeding,Height, and Space Use in Hapalemur griseus

I investigated sex differences in feeding ecology in a wild group of Hapalemur griseus, gray bamboo lemur, in southeastern Madagascar. Males and females differed in daily dietary diversity, height use while feeding, and spatial position within the group. Based on all-occurrences of feeding bouts and 15-min point samples, the adult female had significantly higher daily dietary diversity indices than those of males. The female also fed at significantly lower heights than the males did. There are also significant differences between age classes with the subadult male exhibiting the lowest dietary diversity and feeding at the greatest heights. During feeding, the female stayed in closest proximity to both juveniles, whereas adult males were peripheral. In contrast, the males moved closer in proximity to the female when resting and traveling. These sex differences could be explained 1) by the metabolic cost of reproduction for females, 2) as strategies to mitigate the cost of feeding competition between males and females, 3) by male role performance as a predator detector, and 4) by different social priorities of males and females.     

Using anthropometric indicators for Mexicans in the United States and Mexico to understand the selection of migrants and the "Hispanic paradox"

Anthropometric measures including height provide an indication of childhood health that allows exploration of relationships between early life circumstances and adult health. Height can also be used to provide some indication of how early life health is related to selection of migrants and the Hispanic paradox in the United States. This article joins information on persons of Mexican nativity ages 50 and older in the United States collected in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV (NHANES IV 1999-2002) with a national sample of persons of the same age living in Mexico from the Mexican Health and Aging Survey (MHAS 2001) to examine relationships between height, education, migration, and late-life health. Mexican immigrants to the United States are selected for greater height and a high school, rather than higher or lower, education. Return migrants from the United States to Mexico are shorter than those who stay. Height is related to a number of indicators of adult health. Results support a role for selection in the Hispanic paradox and demonstrate the importance of education and childhood health as determinants of late-life health in both Mexico and the United States.     

Economic and social correlates of infant mortality: A cross‐sectional and longitudinal analysis of 63 selected countries

Abstract

Genealogical records containing birth and death dates for completed families have been analyzed to compare the longevity of twins, sibs and parents. The data are restricted to twins and sibs who survived to adulthood and married. The findings, similar to those found with respect to fertility (Wyshak and White, 1969), show that twins, especially male twins, are disadvantaged in comparison with their male sibs. Sib‐sib and parent‐offspring correlation analysis confirmed that there is a genetic component in the determination of life span, but environmental factors contribute more to the total variation. No evidence of a stronger maternal than paternal effect was found. Twin bearers also lived longer than nontwin bearers. Even among persons who survived to age SO or more, parents of twins had more children and lived slightly longer than their twin and nontwin offspring. Regression analysis for persons who survived to SO or longer indicated that, in addition to life span of parents, secularity (year of death) and fertility (number of children borne) were the best predictors of longevity, though only a small proportion of the variation could be accounted for by these and other demographic variables. Life span has shown a consistent increase over time from the seventeenth century through the nineteenth century, while fertility has tended to decline. However, among persons surviving to age SO, when the relation between secularity and fertility and secularity and longevity is controlled, a significant correlation between fertility and longevity remains. This relation, observed in populations that did not practice voluntary family size limitation, would not be found in contemporary data. Maternal mortality accounted for the shorter life span of women than for men; eliminating its effect gives women a slight advantage. The fertility and longevity experience of migrants who survived to age SO is more favorable than that of persons who did not migrate.     

The biological standard of living in 19th century Mexico and in the American West

During the mid-19th century, the United States acquired Texas and large parts of Mexican territory with the vast Mexican-born population. This paper considers the biological standard of living of the part of this population that was incarcerated in American prisons. We use their physical stature as a proxy for their biological welfare. These data confirm earlier results which showed that adult heights tended to stagnate in Mexico during the late-19th century despite considerable social and political turmoil. While there is some evidence of a decline in height among youth, the decline is slight (<1 cm). As in other 19th century samples, farmers were the tallest. Americans were taller than Mexican prisoners by about 2 cm.     

Homeopathic Medicine in the City of Oaxaca, Mexico: Patients'' Perspectives and Observations

This article looks at the growth and use of homeopathic medicine in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. Based on interviews with 174 male and female patients from half of the homeopathic clinics in the city, this research examined attitudes toward disease causation and how one stays healthy. Findings suggest that women are better at monitoring and trying to improve their health than are their male counterparts. Although homeopathy enjoys a strong and almost devoted following, women seem to be more convinced of the overall efficacy of homeopathic medicine than do men.     

The biological standard of living (and its convergence) in Colombia, 1870–2003: A tropical success story

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.     

Ancient-to-modern secular changes in Korean stature

Statural growth in human populations is a sensitive indicator of socio-economic well-being, and improvements in socio-economic status are reflected in secular increases in adult height. In the present study, we investigated the statures of historical Korean societies to show how stature changed over time. Applying Fujii's equation, derived from modern Japanese, to the measurement of femora removed from 15th- to 19th-century Joseon tombs, the average heights of Korean adults during the Joseon dynasty were estimated to be 161.1 ± 5.6 cm and 148.9 ± 4.6 cm for males and females, respectively. Plotting statures for successive historical societies against time revealed that Korean heights remained relatively unchanged through to the end of the 19th century, a pattern that differs from that seen in many Western countries in which stature transiently decreases after the Middle Ages. In contrast, a sharp increase in Korean stature was observed at the beginning of the 20th century, similar to trends seen in other nations (although exact timing varies in different countries). There were no accompanying changes of stature sexual dimorphism. The data reported in this study reflect the unique historical experience of Korea; the relative isolation of Joseon society, the late onset of modernization (at the end of the 19th century), and the later occurrence of industrialization (during the 1960s).     

Outside the Moral Economy? Single Female Migrants and the Changing Bangladeshi Family

Unmarried female migrants, travelling overseas for work, form a small proportion of Bangladeshi overseas migrants. Their situation is anomalous and suspect, since unmarried women should remain at home under male protection and control. The stories of Dipti, a single woman who migrated to Australia in the 1980s, and of two other single women from her native village, demonstrate clearly some of the contradictions of these women's lives. Like other single female migrants I knew, Dipti retained close links to kin in Bangladesh, contributing significantly to the income of parents and siblings back home. Indeed, her constant and generous gift‐giving can be understood as an attempt to counter her anomalous position and remain part of the moral economy of the village. However, Dipti's longing to remain part of an ‘ideal’ extended family conflicted with her relatives' desire for autonomy. This is because families in Bangladesh were themselves changing over this period, due to the intersection of the developmental cycles of domestic groups, dispositions towards the autonomy of children from their parents and each other, and through the economic pressures of contemporary Bangladeshi society, which provide a strong further impetus towards the financial autonomy of the nuclear family. These changes within the structure of their families result in alienating further these single female migrants. Thus, ultimately, both Dipti's attempts to maintain her extended family in Bangladesh and her efforts to recreate it in Australia were doomed to failure. The brief stories of the other two single women I use in the article are parallel to that of Dipti's.     

Gender diversity of editorial boards and gender differences in the peer review process at six journals of ecology and evolution

Despite substantial progress for women in science, women remain underrepresented in many aspects of the scholarly publication process. We examined how the gender diversity of editors and reviewers changed over time for six journals in ecology and evolution (2003–2015 for four journals, 2007–2015 or 2009–2015 for the other two), and how several aspects of the peer review process differed between female and male editors and reviewers. We found that for five of the six journals, women were either absent or very poorly represented as handling editors at the beginning of our dataset. The representation of women increased gradually and consistently, with women making up 29% of the handling editors (averaged across journals) in 2015, similar to the representation of women as last authors on ecology papers (23% in 2015) but lower than the proportion of women among all authors (31%) and among members of the societies that own the journals (37%–40%). The proportion of women among reviewers has also gradually but consistently increased over time, reaching 27% by 2015. Female editors invited more female reviewers than did male editors, and this difference increased with age of the editor. Men and women who were invited to review did not differ in whether they responded to the review invitation, but, of those that responded, women were slightly more likely to agree to review. In contrast, women were less likely than men to accept invitations to serve on journal editorial boards. Our analyses indicate that there has been progress in the representation of women as reviewers and editors in ecology and evolutionary biology, but women are still underrepresented among the gatekeepers of scholarly publishing relative to their representation among researchers.     

Do you have to be tall and educated to be a migrant? Evidence from Spanish recruitment records, 1890–1950

We use Spanish military records stemming from the late-19th to the mid-20th century to assess internal migrants’ self-selection. We find that migrants were, on average over the whole period, around one centimeter taller than non-migrants, and in the booming 1920s, the height advantage of movers reached three centimeters. The positive self-selection was larger for migrants originating in poorer provinces and traveling longer distances. A further finding is that migrants were positively selected in terms of literacy and socio-economic status according to their occupation. Professionals were most likely to have migrated internally and farmers least.     

Wealth, inequality, and insolation effects across the 19th century white US stature distribution

Sources associated with 19th century stature variation have been widely considered. Using US state prison records and robust statistics, this paper illustrates that 19th century US white statures were positively associated with a broad combination of wealth, equality, and environmental characteristics. Individuals from geographic areas characterized by low wealth and high inequality had shorter statures. After controlling for various factors, direct sunlight – the primary source of vitamin D – was also positively associated with stature. After controlling for wealth, inequality, and insolation, farmers were taller than workers in other occupations. These wealth, insolation, and socioeconomic relationships are significant across the stature distribution.     

From preferred to actual mate characteristics: the case of human body shape

The way individuals pair to produce reproductive units is a major factor determining evolution. This process is complex because it is determined not only by individual mating preferences, but also by numerous other factors such as competition between mates. Consequently, preferred and actual characteristics of mates obtained should differ, but this has rarely been addressed. We simultaneously measured mating preferences for stature, body mass, and body mass index, and recorded corresponding actual partner's characteristics for 116 human couples from France. Results show that preferred and actual partner's characteristics differ for male judges, but not for females. In addition, while the correlation between all preferred and actual partner's characteristics appeared to be weak for female judges, it was strong for males: while men prefer women slimmer than their actual partner, those who prefer the slimmest women also have partners who are slimmer than average. This study therefore suggests that the influences of preferences on pair formation can be sex-specific. It also illustrates that this process can lead to unexpected results on the real influences of mating preferences: traits considered as highly influencing attractiveness do not necessarily have a strong influence on the actual pairing, the reverse being also possible.     

郑州地区汉唐宋成年居民的身高研究

本文对郑州地区荥阳薛村遗址和新郑多处遗址汉唐宋墓葬成年人骨标本(汉代55例,唐代22例,宋代39例)的肢骨进行了观察和测量,依据陈世贤和张继宗的黄种人身高推算公式,分别以肱骨、股骨和胫骨的最大长推算出三个时期两性的平均身高;汉、唐、宋男性的平均身高分别为169.52cm、167.03cm和164.49cm,女性的平均身高分别为159.11cm,158.39cm和156.17cm。对两性平均身高进行的独立样本T检验显示,汉、唐、宋两性平均身高均为男性大于女性,两性身高存在显著性差异;两性身高随着时代的发展大致呈下降的趋势,但身高的时代差异均不存在显著性意义。郑州汉唐宋两性身高呈现出的下降趋势,应该与这个历史时期中原地区汉民族与我国其他地区异族交流、融合有关,也可能是因为居民生存压力的增加和饮食的影响,也不排除人类身高微观演化的可能。较低的身高性二形性水平也许意味着郑州地区汉唐宋时期的两性不平等现象小于同时代的其他地区。本文的研究结论为了解郑州地区汉唐宋居民两性的健康发育等体质状况提供了有意义的参考。     

Global South cosmopolitans: the opening and closing of the USA–Mexico border for Mexican tourists

The US government has simultaneously increased efforts to close its border to unauthorized migrants, and opened the border to increasing flows of tourists from Mexico. In this paper I focus on the experiences of Mexican tourists who are able to freely cross the USA–Mexico border with US visas, given that their unique status as tourists from Mexico is an important element to consider because it organizes their daily lives, their moral understandings, and their experiences across the USA–Mexico border. I show how Global South cosmopolitans from Mexico benefit from class privilege in Mexico, but become legally vulnerable in the USA due to their racialization as Mexicans and lack of citizenship rights. This paper draws on ethnographic data and in-depth interviews collected in the border town of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico between July 2009 and August 2010.