The biological standard of living in Taiwan under Japanese occupation

Abstract

This paper presents evidence on the biological standard of living in Taiwan from 1842 to 1931 using Taiwanese height and weight data collected by the Japanese authorities from 1921 to 1931. This study shows that in the late Ch’ing adult heights were not increasing over time, while the adult heights of those born after the Japanese takeover did begin to increase rapidly. Evidence from children’s heights confirms that this growth in height continued through the 1920s. The body mass index of Taiwanese, however, did not increase in the 1920s. By most measures, the biological standard of living was better in the north of the island. Comparison with modern data shows that heights have continued to increase.