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Cover of: Institutional Change and Variation in 19th-Century Southern Blacks' and Whites' Body Mass Indices
Scott Alan Carson

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

Section: Articles
Volume 170 (2014) / Issue 2, pp. 296-316 (21)
Published 09.07.2018
DOI 10.1628/093245614X13801797311754
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  • 10.1628/093245614X13801797311754
Summary
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.