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The objective of the study was to measure variation in stature at different ages and – for the first time in an historical study – to measure the tempo, or velocity, of growth during childhood. This will permit the identification of age-specific interruptions in the pattern of early growth and allow a better-informed examination of the health effects of urban living and the industrial workplace. It examined the balance between age-specific disease, poor nutritional intake and working conditions as the principal cause of relative short stature among children in factory districts.

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In 1837, the heights of 16,402 boys and girls aged between eight and fourteen were recorded by certifying surgeons appointed by the factory inspectors. The children lived in factory districts in the north of England (see Appendix). The measurements were subdivided by environmental origin (large towns, small towns, rural districts) and published in the reports of the factory inspectors. The data are drawn from frequency tables published in Parliamentary Papers 1837, L 171, Return of Number of Surgeons who have furnished Inspectors of Factories with Tables containing Stature of Children measured, pp. 6-11.

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