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New Approaches to Old Problems: The Well-Being of the Population of Russia from 1821 to 1910 as Measured by Physical Stature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Boris N. Mironov
Boris N. Mironov*
Affiliation:
Institute of Russian History (St. Petersburg branch), Russian Academy of Sciences
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Extract

Scholars generally agree on the relationship between the physical stature, or height, of children and adults, and their quality of life, or their biological status, including diet, illnesses, intensity and conditions of work, availability of medical care, living conditions, psychological well-being, climate, water, air, and other environmental factors that have impinged on their lives prior to the point at which their height is measured. Genetic factors have an important effect on individual height, but genetic distinctions lose their significance when masses of individuals are measured and average heights are compared. The same effect holds at the level of entire populations: differences in height are determined, not by ethnic or racial attributes, but by living conditions.

Type
Discussion
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , Spring 1999 , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1999

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