Institutional Change and Variation in 19th-Century Southern Blacks' and Whites' Body Mass Indices

Little research exists on the body mass index (BMI) values of 19th-century Southern blacks and whites. Using a new BMI data set and sensitivity analysis, this paper demonstrates that Southern blacks' BMIs were greater than whites' and both declined throughout the 19th century; therefore, the 20th-century increase in Southern BMIs did not have its origins in the late 19th century. Farmers had greater BMIs than nonfarmers, and biological differences explain more of the black-white BMI differential than socioeconomic characteristics.