Stunting, starvation and refeeding: a review of forgotten 19th and early 20th century literature

Aim To scrutinize to what extent modern ideas about nutrition effects on growth are supported by historic observations in European populations. Method We reviewed 19th and early 20th century paediatric journals in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the third largest European library with an almost complete collection of the German medical literature. During a three‐day visit, we inspected 15 bookshelf meters of literature not available in...