Mary Cox

Civilians in Vienna are widely considered to have suffered intense nutritional deprivation during and following the First World War. My project is an empirical and qualitative study of the nutritional status of children in different districts of Vienna following WW I. It examines the impact that international food aid, particularly from charities based in the United States and Sweden, had on improving the nutritional status of Viennese children and in reducing nutritional inequality across the city. I use anthropometric indicators and basic econometric modelling to measure changing growth patterns of children, and as a tool to measure effectiveness of food aid. I also use a number of more traditional historical sources including reports from international aid organizations and medical doctors, films, letters from private aid workers, and drawings and letters from child aid recipients themselves. This project is of necessity interdisciplinary in its approach. This fellowship will support me as I prepare the book manuscript.