Schneider, Eric B (2013) Inescapable hunger? Energy cost accounting and the costs of digestion, pregnancy, and lactation. European Review of Economic History, 17 (3). pp. 340-363. ISSN 1361-4916

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Abstract

This paper adjusts reconstructions of per capita food consumption in England from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries by factoring in the energy costs of digestion, pregnancy, and lactation. Digestion costs arise because the body has difficulty digesting certain components of food. Incorporating digestion costs reduced the calories available per capita by 12.7 per cent in 1700 but only by 4.9 per cent in 1909 because of changes in diet. The energy costs of pregnancy and lactation were lower only reducing calorie consumption by 2.5 per cent. These adjustments suggest a more pessimistic level of calorie availability before the twentieth century.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of History, Art History and Philosophy > History
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA History of Great Britain H Social Sciences > HC Economic history and conditions
Depositing User:	Eric Schneider
Date Deposited:	29 Aug 2013 14:47
Last Modified:	29 Aug 2013 14:47
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/45965

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