Taller, Heavier, Younger
A "Statistics Show" Story Disproving the Notion That Men Were Bigger in the Old Days
WHAT'S ALL THIS TALK about the Dartmouth man of former days being huskier and heavier than the Dartmouth man of today? Who dug up the notion that yesterday's sterner life developed bigger, tougher college striplings than today's more comfortable living? Whence comes the idea that pre-war years and the roaring twenties produced hardier specimens than now come to Dartmouth?
The average student today is taller, heavier, and younger than ever before —and very much so. When he arrives in Hanover he can chin himself nine times as compared to the meager five times of forty years ago. He is bigger, stronger, and healthier than his predecessors; yet the notion seems to persist, especially among the older generation, that the students of today are physically inferior to those of the good old days. The most common reason advanced in support of this theory is that living conditions today do not produce muscle and sinew as did the simple, hardy life of the past century. The coddled youth of today, they say, no longer does the daily chores about the home which supposedly developed the physique of the earlier generation. Nor does he use his leg muscles for walking, but rides about in automobiles. His inactive, soft, luxurious life is held responsible for his alleged poor posture and flabby musculature. All this is, in a word, bologna.
It is true that modern inventions have eliminated much of the need for muscular effort in every-day life; but every up-todate school system in America today has, as an important feature of its educational plan, a well-rounded program of physical training which develops young people more symmetrically and more soundly than did the chores and walking of yesterday. The muscular development that was formerly achieved by wood-chopping, snow shoveling and other laborious tasks is now achieved in other ways. Not only is the student developed physically, but he is trained in skills and sports in order that he may carry on his development after he leaves school and college.
It has interested us greatly to determine whether present-day freshmen are physically inferior to those who came to Dartmouth ten, twenty, or thirty years ago. Fortunately, the late Dr. John Bowler recorded and preserved the careful measurements which he and Mr. Kaney had faithfully compiled from examination of thirty successive freshman classes. Complete and accurate, they afforded a factual basis for comparative study of height, weight, and age over more than a generation. Dr. Bowler kept these records patiently and carefully—an enormous task—in addition to his early work directing gym classes, lecturing in hygiene, training teams, coaching track and laying plans for a new building. The records were begun when he was the entire staff; athletics had not quite attained its present status of educational respectability, and physical activities were considered a means to "keep boys out of mischief" and "use up surplus energy."
The data recorded by Dr. Bowler have been compiled (with financial support through the National Youth Administration) to show the average height, weight, and age for each of the 36 entering classes graduating from 1908 to 1943; by decades starting with the class of 1908; and for the six classes of 1938 to 1943. These figures represent data from examination of 18,506 Dartmouth students, and are shown in the accompanying tables.
The average entering Dartmouth freshman for the 30 classes from 1908 to 1937 weighed 138.79 pounds, was 68.39 inches tall and 18.8 years old. Dividing this period into decades we find the average entering freshman from 1908 to 1917 weighed 134 pounds, was 67.8 inches tall and was 19.1 years old. The second decade he weighed 138.5 pounds, was 68.5 inches tall and was 18.8 years old. The third decade he weighed 138.6, was 68.9 inches tall and was 18.5 years old. In each succeeding decade the average freshman was taller, heavier, and younger.
The average for the entering classes of 1938-1943 is even more startling: weight 150, height 69.3 and age 18.06. This average shows that the entering freshman for the last six years was 11.22 pounds heavier, 1 inch taller and 814 months younger than the average for the classes 1907-1938.
What is the cause of this tendency? Is it a national one? A few similar surveys in other institutions, both men's and women's, have produced similar results; in all probability the development is not peculiar to Dartmouth.
Probably the school health and physical education programs contribute greatly toward the change. Though there is not much scientific data to prove it, the present generation seems to know how to live more wisely. The school health and physical programs teach those who want to learn, the fundamentals of healthful living, the value of recreational activities, and the importance of good health habits. If these become habitual parts of everyday living, the results will be improved physical condition and possibly increased growth.
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE A FACTOR
Yesterday, typhoid fever, diphtheria, and many other diseases were fairly common. Today, medical science has all but eliminated these devastating maladies. To expose the child to measles, mumps, and other "harmless" diseases to "get them over with" was a philosophy of our ancestors not long ago. Who can doubt that the ravages of these diseases lessened the growth of their victims? Today preventive medicine gives us immunity from many of these dangerous, debilitating diseases, while great public and private medical foundations are still at work on those still prevalent. That living conditions, from a medical standpoint, are better today is obvious; and that they contribute to growth is a definite probability.
The exhaustive studies in the field of diet made in recent years have changed the feeding programs of children and the eating habits of everyone. Balanced meals and prescribed diet to meet the needs of bodily deficiencies have given the youth of today a better start than youngsters of the past generation. If the claim of medical science be true—that proper feeding stimulates growth—there can be no doubt that the more intelligent diet of today is responsible in large degree for the greater size of youth.
The three apparent causes of greater growth—physical education and recreational sport, a more scientific diet, and better medical attention—are still being explored and developed. Who is to say that the young Dartmouth man of tomorrow won't be a modern Gulliver among his predecessors?
THE AVERAGE FRESHMAN, 1908-1937 Class Age Height Weight 1908 18.82 66.6 138.56 1909 19.47 68.5 138.08 1910 18.75 67.6 133.74 1911 18.78 66.7 138.311912 19.23 67.6 142.94 1913 18.76 67.5 133.77 1914 18.73 68.4 138.31 1915 19.37 68.5 133.93 1916 19.40 68.4 134.15 1917 19.42 68.4 147.85 1918 19.37 68.5 142.96 1919 19.36 68.5 133.85 1920 18.82 68.5 138.67 1921 18.76 68.5 138.87 1922 18.76 68.4 148.79 1923 18.53 68.5 133.82 1924 18.56 68.5 133.94 1925 18.61 68.5 138.48 1926 18.62 68.5 138.66 1927 18.64 68.5 134.17 1928 18.66 68.5 138.55 1929 18.54 68.5 141.53 1930 18.64 69.4 134.12 1931 18.50 68.4 146.23 1932 18.50 68.6 138.56 1933 18.44 68.5 138.46 1934 18.42 69.4 143.13 1935 18.49 68.4 138.87 1936 18.51 69.5 138.82 1937 18.55 69.5 143.47 18.8 68.39 138.79 HERE ARE FIGURES FOR SIX RECENT CLASSESClass Age Height Weight 1938 18.47 68.6 148.26 1939 18.45 69.5 148.19 1940 17.96 68.9 150.48 1941 17.98 69.6 149.31 1942 17.64 69.6 151.21 1943 17.91 69.8 152.6 18.06 69.3 150.00
PAT KANEY (LEFT) AND PROFESSOR DELAHANTY RECORD THE HEIGHT OF LOU YOUNG '41, CAPTAIN OF THE 1940 FOOTBALL TEAM. AT THE RIGHT, PROFESSOR DELAHANTY COMPUTES FIGURES FOR THE ACCOMPANYING ARTICLE.
PROFESSOR OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION
