Households behave systematically in family planning and intra-household resource allocation. A neglected area in historical health studies is the relationship between body mass index (BMI), health and family size. Using robust statistics and a large nineteenth-century BMI data set, this study uses an overlapping generations model to explain resource allocation within the household and illustrates that there is a positive relationship across the BMI distribution with family size. There is also a positive relationship between BMIs and average wealth, and an inverse relationship between BMI and inequality. After controlling for family size and wealth characteristics, there was a positive relationship between BMI and worker’s agricultural rural status.

JEL: N3, D1, I1

家庭在计划生育和家庭内部资源分配中有系统地表现。历史健康研究中一个被忽略的领域是体重指数（BMI），健康状况和家庭规模之间的关系。利用稳健的统计数据和19世纪的大量BMI数据集，本研究使用重叠的世代模型来解释家庭内部的资源分配，并说明BMI分布与家庭规模之间存在正相关关系。BMI与平均财富之间也存在正相关关系，而BMI与不平等之间存在负相关关系。在控制了家庭规模和财富特征之后，BMI与工人的农业农村地位之间存在正相关关系。

JEL：N3，D1，I1