Smith, Elise (2015) Class, health and the proposed British anthropometric survey of 1904. Social History of Medicine, 28 (2). pp. 308-329. doi:10.1093/shm/hku085

Research output not available from this repository, contact author.

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

In 1904, amid heightened fears of urban degeneration, members of the British Association's Anthropometric Committee drafted plans to measure thousands of citizens to establish the state of the national physique. Their proposal was presented to the Interdepartmental Committee on Physical Deterioration, which agreed that such information would help resolve the degeneration debate. However, a comprehensive anthropometric survey was never enacted, and only schoolchildren were measured in subsequent years. This article examines the state of anthropometric knowledge in the late nineteenth century, and the genesis and rejection of the 1904 survey. It reviews the political, medical and moral opinions which were cited both for and against its implementation, focusing particularly on the perceived reluctance of the working class to be measured. The decision of Campbell-Bannerman's government to institute only school medical inspections suggests that this was an area in which Liberal values ultimately prevented too close an interference with British bodies.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > History
Journal or Publication Title:	Social History of Medicine
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0951-631X
Official Date:	May 2015
Dates:	Date Event May 2015 Published
Volume:	28
Number:	2
Page Range:	pp. 308-329
DOI:	10.1093/shm/hku085
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item