The Anthropometrics of War, Famine and Development: Helsinki Primary School Health Cards, 1910-1932

Joël Floris, University of Zurich
Sakari Saaritsa, University of Helsinki
Tuuli Hurme, University of Helsinki

Anthropometrics draws a broad picture of the standard of living and assesses the nutritional status of people. Being influenced by food intake, health status, and energy expenditure, anthropometric measurements reflect economic, social, and epidemiological conditions. We analyze individual health records of c. 35,000 Helsinki primary school children of both sexes aged 7 to 15 years between 1910-1932. We analyze in particular the effects of the Finnish Civil War of 1918 and the disruptions in food supply in 1917-1919 on the nutritional status and growth patterns of children. It is remarkable that the individual records have survived: the few studies analyzing anthropometric measures of children in the context of World War I have relied on summary statistics. We analyze height, weight, and BMI changes of an immediate nutrition shock among children at school. We compare effects on stunting and estimate compensatory growth among cohorts that were hit by crisis at different ages. We also compare cohorts born during and right after the crisis. We control for school neighborhood, for some years the occupation of the father, and sex. While the Finnish Civil War of 1918 has been depicted as a political event and a tragedy of violence in national historiography, its human development implications have been neglected. We work towards a measure of the cost of the conflict in damaged human capital.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 120. Health, Public Intervention and Insurance