This variable contains anthropometric information which can be used as a proxy for the inequality of human health and welfare in 119 countries spanning the period 1810-1989, although for most countries only a few birth decades are documented. The data set was created to provide a first attempt to measure inequality, it should be mentioned as a caveat that many individual countries cannot be measured without a substantial amount of measurement error. The tendencies of anthropometric inequality by world region (in which country-specific measurement error tends to average out) is probably informative.

Please consult the working paper for a description of data and sources.