Centre for Policy on Ageing



Growing taller, living longer? — anthropometric history and the future of old age
Author(s)	Bernard Harris
Journal title	Ageing and Society, vol 17, part 5, September 1997
Pages	pp 491-512
Keywords	Longevity ; Health [elderly] ; Height ; Weight ; Life expectancy tables.
Annotation	In recent years, economic and social historians have made increasing use of anthropometric records (mainly, records of human height and weight) to investigate changes in human health and well-being. This paper summarises some of the main findings of this research, and demonstrates the remarkable increases in human height which have occurred in the 20th century. It examines the relationship between changes in average height and changes in life expectancy. Although most of the evidence assembled by anthropometric historians has been derived from records relating to schoolchildren and young adults, their work has profound implications for the study of health in old age. The relevance of this work to debates on the decline of mortality, the 'compression of morbidity', and the future of social policy is examined.
Accession Number	CPA-971117001 A
Classmark	BGA: CC: 53H: 4X6: S7
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.