In Chapter 2, we developed techniques for the estimation of the supply of calories as well as techniques for choosing among competing estimates of caloric consumption. We also described the way in which data on height and weight (or BMI) can be used to assess long-term changes in the risk of dying at specific ages for men and women.

In this chapter, we apply these and related techniques to evaluate and propose resolutions to issues under debate by economic and social historians concerned with long-term trends in health, longevity, and other aspects of human welfare. Section 3.1 considers the nature of the samples contained in the Davies and Eden surveys. Section 3.2 evaluates the biases that arise from using cross-sectional data in estimating longitudinal income elasticities of demand for food. Section 3.3 assesses French productivity in food production during the eighteenth century. Section 3.4 examines the nature of European famines. Section 3.5 deals with the effect of variations in body size on the balance between population and the food supply. Section 3.6 evaluates the impact of improved nutrition on the growth of labor productivity. Section 3.7 discusses the impact of thermodynamic and physiological factors on long-term economic growth.