I. Life Expectancy: 1. Since 1700, Life Expectancy Has Increased From 30 To 77 Years. This Is A 157 Percent Increase

I.
Life Expectancy
1. Since 1700, life expectancy has
increased from 30 to 77 years. This is a
157 percent increase.
2. Why has life expectancy increased?
A. Improved nutrition
B. Sanitation
C. Medical technology
D. Better working conditions
3. It was originally believed that life
expectancy increased because we had
overcame crisis mortality.
Crisis mortalities (epidemics) result from fast
moving diseases that move through a
population and kills persons who lack
sufficient resistance.
Examples:
Plague, Cholera, Influenza
Epidemic diseases come periodically but have
very large psychic consequences.
4. We now believe that it was the endemic
diseases that led to greater mortality rates.
Endemic- regional diseases that persist
over time.
Examples:
Tuberculosis, Diarrhea, Hook worm
II. Stature
Height is the cumulative measure of
nutritional status less the insults less and
work expenditures.
We consider average height over time, which
gives us an idea about what historical living
conditions were like.
Five Facts Regarding Stature
1. European Americans were taller than their
counterparts in Europe. This suggests that even
the most disadvantaged members of the American
society benefited from American resource
abundance and its favorable disease environment.
2. There were cycles in 19
th
century stature. These
cycles coincided with economic shocks, such as
urbanization and food shortages.
3. Rural farmers were taller than their non-
farmer urban counterparts. This may
suggest that rural areas were more healthy
than urban areas.
4. There was nearly a perfect positive
correlation between social class and stature.
5. There was a substantial stature gap
between males and females. This may be
the result of the inner family distribution of
calories.
III. Body Mass Index
BMI is a current measure of nutritional status.
Definition:
! "
2
log
) (
Meters in Height
rams Ki in Weight
BMI Index Mass Body #
Example: Abraham Lincoln
Lincolns Height, 64 => # Meters
Lincolns weight, 185 lbs => # Kilograms
Calculate Lincolns BMI
How and where body fat is distributed over the body
greatly influences mortality.
Thus . . .
Abdominal fat is a better measure of health than the
BMI.
However . . .
It is extrodinarily hard to find historical abdominal
fat samples.
Therefore . . .
We use BMI as an approximation for abdominal fat.
Some Medical Facts
1. High concentrations of abdominal fat,
possibly BMI, are associated with
cardiovascular disease, hypertension,
diabetes, possibly stroke.
2. Too low of BMI is associated with
nutrition related diseases, and certain
cancers.
So, what is the best BMI?
25 for both males and females.
However, the likelihood of mortality increases
more rapidly the farther you get from 25 for
females relative to males.
Where we go from here . . .
Backbone of History
Rick Steckel and Jerome Rose combine economics
and physical anthropology to assess Paleolithic
living standards in the Western Hemisphere.
RS and JR collect 12,520 skeletal remains of
indigenous and immigrants groups over a long
history of the Western Hemispheres history.
RS and JR then proceed to compare biological living
standards among historical populations.
Measurements
1. Stature (from bone lengths)
2. Dental health (diets)
3. Degenerative joint disease (work
intensity)
4. Anemia (diets and disease)
5. Linear enamel hypoplasias (indicates
severe biological stress during childhood)
6. Trauma (military conflict and violence)
7. Skeletal infections (disease)
Results
1. Brazilian and other South Americans fared
quite well.
2. South Carolinians, Californians and
nomadic Plains indigenous groups did the
best among North Americans.
3. Indigenous groups in Americas South
West were the most disadvantaged among
all groups in the Western Hemisphere.
Technophysio Evolution
Findings between body measurements
(anthropology) and mortality risks have led
Fogel and others to think in terms of the
relationship between the human organism
(physio) and technology (techno).
Technophysio Evolution
Technophysio Evolution is the synergisms between
the human organism and the technological
environment that are not genetic, rapid, culturally
transferred and not necessarily stable.
This process has and will continue to be continuous.
Technophysio Evolution indicates that we are living
longer because we have gained such dramatic
control over our physical environment. This
allows us to live longer and also . . . better.
Technophysio Evolution may have an influence on
stature.

I. Life Expectancy: 1. Since 1700, Life Expectancy Has Increased From 30 To 77 Years. This Is A 157 Percent Increase

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