We present 127 years of data on the physical stature of military conscripts born in Italy during 1854-1980, as well as an analysis of regional variations in height (for birth cohorts born during 1927-1980). The height of young men has increased in all regions of Italy. The secular trend and the regional changes in stature are correlated with economic growth and a general improvement of living c...

The number of young people eligible for conscription into the German Federal Armed Forces is decreasing, making the successful planning and execution of manpower management plans and policies increasingly important. In conjunction with the decreasing number of potential conscripts, the necessity for savings requires the downsizing of the Psychological Service of the Federal Armed Forces. Thus, ...

To study the association between handedness and mortality, we evaluated the experience of a Swedish population-based cohort comprising 48,964 conscripts age 18-21 years in 1969-1970. We linked this cohort to the Cause-of-Death Register through 1989. Hand preference was measured by a simple question regarding handedness; to confirm the answer, the conscript held a dummy rifle while an observer r...

At the end of World War II, a severe 5-mo famine struck the cities in the western part of The Netherlands. At its peak, the rations dropped to as low as 400 calories per day. In 1972, cognitive performance in 19-y-old male conscripts was reported not to have been affected by exposure to the famine before birth. In the present study, we show that cognitive function in later life does seem affect...