The Human Body and the Town: Recruits in the Gubernia of Warsaw in 1913
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/KH.2016.123.3.03Keywords
human body, standard of living, secular trend in human stature, social stratifi cation, anthropometry, Jews, Polish KingdomAbstract
Height and Body Mass Index are anthropological measurements increasingly often used in studies on the standard of living of historical populations. This article conducts an assessment of the way in which those measurements reflect religious (Christians–Jews) and socio-economic (place of residence, profession, literacy) differences dividing the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Poland upon the eve of the Great War. The basic sources are almost 8000 measurements of 21-year old recruits from the gubernia of Warsaw. Height and BMI (Body Mass Index) in the Christians–Jews cross-section statistically differed to the disadvantage of the latter group. An equally essential impact was exerted by the place of residence. The residents of Warsaw were taller than the inhabitants of villages and small towns, but their BMI was lower; as many as 20% of Jewish recruits from Warsaw were underweight. The differentiation of height proves that the standard of living in towns was higher than in the countryside and small towns. In the case of Warsaw lower BMI could be explained by two causes: first, in past populations BMI measured not so much body fat as the muscle mass, which was higher in the villages. Second, the disproportion between height and BMI in Warsaw reflected a change in the participation of food expenses in household budgets. The moment young men became independent they probably limited food consumption and spent more on other commodities and entertainment available in large cities.
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