Abstract

Analysis of the stature and body mass of men from the Kingdom of Poland who were drafted into the 1913/14 Russian army finds that Christians and Jews born in Warsaw were taller than their counterparts from small towns and villages. However, conscripts from Warsaw had less body mass than did conscripts from rural regions; the body mass index (bmi) of a significant proportion of the Warsaw contingent indicates nutritional deficiency. The difference in stature between inhabitants of Warsaw and those of the provinces is attributable to the dietary advantages of the urban environment. The higher bmi of the conscripts from the provinces derived from their greater muscle mass, achieved through the hard labor typical of rural environments. Young males in Warsaw tended to economize on food to spend more on the amusements typical of urban environments, not usually conducive to muscular development.

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