The Biological Standard of Living in the two Germanies.

Physical stature is used as a proxy for the biological standard of
living in the two Germanies before and after unification in an
analysis of a cross-sectional sample (1998) of adult heights, as
well as among military recruits of the 1990s. West Germans tended
to be taller than East Germans throughout the period under
consideration. Contrary to official proclamations of a classless
society, there were substantial social differences in physical
stature in East-Germany. Social differences in height were greater
in the East among females, and less among males than in the West.
The difficulties experienced by the East-German population after
1961 is evident in the increase in social inequality of physical
stature thereafter, as well as in the increasing gap relative to
the height of the West-German population. After unification,
however, there is a tendency for East-German males, but not of
females, to catch up with their West-German counterparts.