Interpreting adult stature in industrial London

Abstract

The results may be explained by differences in subadult mortality, potentially due to variation in infant feeding practices. Low-status infants were more likely to live in pathogenic environments and less likely to be breastfed, leading to both stature and immunological deficits, thus minimizing the association between adult stature and mortality, as the shortest individuals did not survive into adulthood. The ways in which migration and repeated epidemics of plague may have shaped stature variation during industrialization are also discussed, highlighting the importance of context in understanding the association between stature and mortality.