Explaining long-term trends in health and longevity
By: Robert W. Fogel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 174
ISBN-13: 9781107027916; 9781107665811
Subjects: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History; Medical economics; Longitudinal studies
Work titles: Essays
Description: "Explaining Long-Term Trends in Health and Longevity is a collection of essays by Nobel laureate Robert W. Fogel on the theory and measurement of ageing and health-related variables. Dr Fogel analyzes historic data on height, health, nutrition and life expectation to provide a clearer understanding of the past, illustrate the costs and benefits of using such measures and note the difficulties of drawing conclusions from data intended for different purposes. Dr Fogel explains how the basic findings of the anthropomorphic approach to historical analysis have helped reinterpret the nature of economic growth. Rising life expectancies and lower disease rates in countries experiencing economic growth highlight the importance of improving nutrition and agricultural productivity"--

"This book collects several of Robert W. Fogel's papers on the nuances of anthropometric data. While often difficult to work with, these data have provided economists, demographers, economic historians, and epidemiologists the opportunities to make major contributions to the understanding of long-term changes in health, healthcare costs, and the physiology of aging"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1. Foreword Stanley Engerman; 2. Secular changes in American and British stature and nutrition; 3. Second thoughts on the European escape from hunger: famines, chronic malnutrition, and mortality rates; 4. Trends in physiological capital: implications for equity in health care; 5. Changes in disparities and chronic diseases through the course of the twentieth century; 6. Some common problems in analysis and measurement; 7. Afterword: a conversation with the author.