In our new paper (BMJ Global Health), we systematically collected 923 historical growth studies covering 122 countries from 1814–2016.
By harmonising height-by-age data, we reconstruct stunting patterns over two centuries.
Link: doi.org/10.1136/bmjg...
5)
Really pleased to see our global stunting data up on our world in data. We hope it helps people contextualise child stunting in a much longer historical lens.
Thanks to Hannah and Tuna for visualising and explaining the data so well!
The link to the original paper is here:
doi.org/10.1136/bmjg...
Couldn't have done this without great data (@ipums.bsky.social) and great co-authors (@rebeccasear.bsky.social, @anthrolog.bsky.social)!
doi.org
Come join our workshop on excess mortality methodology! It will be two great days of expert talks, discussion groups, and me revealing the results of our many analyst project! 40+ teams have signed up to estimate 1918 pandemic deaths with the method of their choice -- results should be fascinating!
Eric Schneider
Like the authors talk about, this also happened during the 1918 flu, with the 1919 cohort being poorer from birth than (at least in the US). As much as I wish differently, this casts doubt on the whole premise of cohort discontinuity studies of the effects of pandemics! (1/2)
📣 Call for papers:
We are inviting you to submit contributions to a Special Collection on the Socioeconomic Inequalities in Mortality in the Long-Run, organized by K. Thompson, T. Riswick & S. Clouston. Submissions to this collection are possible from January 28, 2026 until June 28, 2026. (1/2)
Eric Schneider
My research means I spend a lot of timing thinking about the conditions under which people stop trying to preserve their health and well-being. Why do people continue to smoke even when they know the risks of cancer? Why do people refuse to wear a seatbelt or a helmet when they know the risks?
Glad to see more demographers pushing back against the low fertility panic and in non-demographic outlets, where they might reach broader audiences. 1/ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
And for all the 1918 flu cohort studies that compare 1919 to all surrounding cohorts, including 1920, the water is doubly muddied: fertility patterns make it look like any compositional changes persisted into 1920, causing bias in the opposite direction too (2/2)
doi.org/10.1080/0032...
