The profound impact of socioeconomic factors on human growth and development, but also on morbidity and mortality patterns was first described by ancient philosophers and physicians such as Hippocrates of Cos or Aristoteles. Poverty and poor living conditions reduced growth and development resulting in lower stature height and delayed sexual maturation. Therefore stature height and sexual maturation were mentioned as most important biological indicators of social inequality. In the 19th century the famous German physician Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) pointed out the concrete links between social conditions and the epidemiology of infectious diseases. In France Louis-Rene Villereme (1782-1863) linked social conditions with physical development. Changes in social conditions, especially the improvement in nutrition and medical care resulted in the well-known secular trend characterised by an increase in body size and a decrease in sexual maturation over the past one and a half centuries. Social anthropology or social biology focuses on the social factors that underlie this secular change use. In particular stature height is mentioned as a powerful proxy for childhood living conditions. The secular trend is of interest for several reasons. On the one hand it is a marker of the public health of a population as it changes over time on the other hand it provides insights into the association patterns between physical development and environmental factors. Today the importance of stature height as an indicator of social inequality decreases and the factor body weight gains in importance. Body weight also varies dramatically with social conditions and this is true of during the whole life. The global epidemic of obesity is one major topic of current social anthropology or social biology. The prevalence of obesity among children as well as adults varies between different social conditions within populations but also between populations. Evidence suggests that obesity is socially distributed with certain social groups at increased risk. In First World countries there is substantial evidence that body weight and the risk of obesity is inverse related with social and economic status. Third World countries and Threshold countries show comparable trends. Other current topics of social anthropology or social biology are the phenomenons of human migration and globalisation and their impact on physical development, weight status, morbidity and mortality patterns.