A post bellum paradox: net nutrition variation by socioeconomic status, gender and race using 19th and 20th century US prison records.

Abstract

When traditional measures for material conditions are scarce or unreliable, body mass, height, and weight are complements to standard income and wealth measures. A persistent question in welfare studies is the 19^th century's 2^nd and 3^rd quarter's stature diminution, a pattern known as the antebellum paradox. However, the question may not be well stated nor experienced equally by women and non-white male samples. The late 19^th century's political Granger, Greenback, and Populist movements may have affected farmer and non-farmer's net nutrition. Despite 19^th and early 20^th century US political movements, farmers had greater BMIs, taller statures, and heavier weights than non-farmers. From the 1870s through 1890s, women's body mass, height, and weight increased relative to men. Individuals of African or mixed European-African descent had heavier weights and greater BMIs than their taller, European-white counterparts, indicating that the traditional antebellum paradox needs to include women and non-European males and weight measures.