Parental Consumption Decisions and Child Health During the Early French Fertility Decline, 1790–1914

A theoretical framework followed by an empirical test was used to explain the relationship between heights nutrient consumption and real gross domestic product in France between 1790 and 1914 and whether there is significant substitution between quantity and quality of children.

Abstract

This article re-examines the secular improvement in human heights in France. Adult heights reflect consumption as children, so the distribution of resources between children and adults, determined primarily within households, should have influenced heights. The intrahousehold distribution of resources was influenced by the level of income and by the calorie demands of working adults. Results show that the early decline of marital fertility in France was accompanied by a small but significant increase in expenditures on child quality as measured by heights. Reductions in mortality, independent of the level of food intake, also contributed to improved heights.