J. F. BROCK 
groups is that implied in the socio-economic privilege of the 
whites. Differences in mortality are most striking in the first 
five years of life (Table I). 
Table I 
Death from all causes Death from gastroenteritis 
Race per 1,000 per 1,000 as °%, of deaths from all 
live births population causes 
O-I year 1-4 years O-I year 1-4. years 
European 23-3 0'9 1:2% 59% 
Cape coloured 85°69 10 35'4% 40°7% 
(Robertson, I., Hansen, J. D. L., and Moodie, A. [1960]. S. Afr. med. 7., 34, 338) 
Approximate figures for life expectation among adults of 
the two populations are :— 
Table II 
Whites Cape coloured 
Life expectancy at birth (years) 67 47 
Percentage poverty 2 33 
(Gordon, H. [1962]. Personal communication.) 
Human Stature and Body Build 
In all Western European countries for which there is reliable 
information there has been through the first half of the twentieth 
century a trend towards taller and heavier individuals. These 
trends are apparent in the U.S.A., Canada, New Zealand and 
Australia as far back as records go and in Japan, to a slightly 
lesser extent, at least since 1900. The gain in weight amounts 
to the equivalent of one year in forty years and in height 
amounts to 1.5 centimetres per decade or one inch per gene- 
ration since 1850. 
It is recognized that body build is made up of many 
components affected by inheritance and environment; also 
that experimental work in animals leaves some doubt as to the 
eventual advantages of rapid growth in the early phases of 
life with resultant increase in final body size. These matters 
are too complicated to discuss at present in relation to human 
stature and body build. 
Food as One of the Causes of Improvements in Life Expectation and 
Stature 
The improvement in life expectation and the increase in 
stature for which figures have been given can of course not be 
44 
