Height and standard of living in Puerto Rico from the Spanish enlightenment to annexation by the United States, 1770-1924.

This preliminary work presents a first series of heights of male adults in Puerto Rico. The sample, made up of 6000 prisoner records. the estimates were systematically assessed for selectivity, and we find that selectivity is quite negligible for the main results. The text studies the extreme dependence of the standard of living on the evolution of the price of sugar, a dependence which caused the progressive deterioration of material well-being in the country. Only between 1860 and 1880 did Puerto Ricans enjoy some improvement and a higher level of height. We measures the negative short-term effects of the 1898 annexation Puerto Rico by the United States.

Biometría histórica de los jóvenes varones castellanos. La incidencia en su estatura de los salarios y la nutrición, 1858-1959 / Historical biometrics of young Castilian males: the impact of income and Nutrition on their height, 1858-1959

Antecedentes: los estudios antropométricos han permitido medir la evolución del bienestar en España y en perspectiva histórica, pero aún no se ha calculado el efecto preciso de los ingresos económicos en la talla. Objetivo: el propósito del este trabajo es identificar los periodos en la trayectoria vital de los jóvenes en los que las disponibilidades alimentación fueron más determinantes en su crecimiento físico. Resultados: el modelo estimado mediante mínimos cuadrados ordinarios demostraría que los ingresos salariales percibidos por sus progenitores por el joven varón en los tres primeros años de vida y los tres inmediatamente anteriores al comienzo de la adolescencia explican hasta un 60 % de su talla al cumplir los 18 años. Todos los coeficientes de los regresores de los modelos planteados son significativos al 0,99 %. Conforme a estos cálculos, el tipo de alimentación del joven en el periodo comprendido entre los 11 y los 14 años fue determinante en su proceso evolutivo. Adicionalmente, los cálculos presentan a las carencias alimentarias como el culpable de los recurrentes periodos de pérdida del bienestar, especialmente en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. Conclusión: las carencias nutricionales causadas por los bajos salarios y la nutrición deficiente han obstaculizado secularmente el crecimiento físico de los jóvenes castellanos. (AU)

Background: anthropometric studies have made it possible to measure the evolution of well-being in Spain and under a historical perspective, but the precise effect of income on height has not yet been calculated. Objective: the purpose of this paper is to identify the periods in the life trajectory of young people in which food availability was the most important determinant of their physical growth. Results: the model estimated using ordinary least squares shows that the wage income received by the parents of the young male in the first three years of life and the three years immediately prior to the onset of adolescence explain up to 60 % of his height at the age of 18. All the coefficients of the regressors of the models presented are significant at 0.99 %. According to these calculations, the type of Nutrition received by the young person in the period between 11 to 14 years of age was a determining factor in his or her evolutionary process. In addition, the calculations show that food deficiencies were to blame for recurrent periods of loss of well-being, especially in the second half of the 19th century. Conclusion: Nutritional deficiencies caused by low wages and poor Nutrition have for centuries hampered the physical growth of Castilian youth. (AU)

[Historical biometrics of young Castilian males: the impact of income and nutrition on their height, 1858-1959]. / Biometría histórica de los jóvenes varones castellanos. La incidencia en su estatura de los salarios la nutrición, 1858-1959.

Introduction: Background: anthropometric studies have made it possible to measure the evolution of well-being in Spain and under a historical perspective, but the precise effect of income on height has not yet been calculated. Objective: the purpose of this paper is to identify the periods in the life trajectory of young people in which food availability was the most important determinant of their physical growth. Results: the model estimated using ordinary least squares shows that the wage income received by the parents of the young male in the first three years of life and the three years immediately prior to the onset of adolescence explain up to 60 % of his height at the age of 18. All the coefficients of the regressors of the models presented are significant at 0.99 %. According to these calculations, the type of nutrition received by the young person in the period between 11 to 14 years of age was a determining factor in his or her evolutionary process. In addition, the calculations show that food deficiencies were to blame for recurrent periods of loss of well-being, especially in the second half of the 19th century. Conclusion: nutritional deficiencies caused by low wages and poor nutrition have for centuries hampered the physical growth of Castilian youth.

Introducción: Antecedentes: los estudios antropométricos han permitido medir la evolución del bienestar en España y en perspectiva histórica, pero aún no se ha calculado el efecto preciso de los ingresos económicos en la talla. Objetivo: el propósito del este trabajo es identificar los periodos en la trayectoria vital de los jóvenes en los que las disponibilidades alimentación fueron más determinantes en su crecimiento físico. Resultados: el modelo estimado mediante mínimos cuadrados ordinarios demostraría que los ingresos salariales percibidos por sus progenitores por el joven varón en los tres primeros años de vida y los tres inmediatamente anteriores al comienzo de la adolescencia explican hasta un 60 % de su talla al cumplir los 18 años. Todos los coeficientes de los regresores de los modelos planteados son significativos al 0,99 %. Conforme a estos cálculos, el tipo de alimentación del joven en el periodo comprendido entre los 11 y los 14 años fue determinante en su proceso evolutivo. Adicionalmente, los cálculos presentan a las carencias alimentarias como el culpable de los recurrentes periodos de pérdida del bienestar, especialmente en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. Conclusión: las carencias nutricionales causadas por los bajos salarios y la nutrición deficiente han obstaculizado secularmente el crecimiento físico de los jóvenes castellanos.

Was there an urban height penalty in Spain, 1840-1913?

We explore whether there was an urban height penalty in Spain during the period of early industrialization from 1840 to 1913, using data from Spain's Southeastern coast and from Castile-Leon. Our results indicate that in the Mediterranean Coast of Southeastern Spain urban heights were well above rural ones for most of the period considered. In Castile-Leon, however, urban and rural heights were about the same until 1870 but urban heights were intermittently above rural ones thereafter. Hence, in Spain urban heights were not always below rural ones in stark contrast to the pattern obtained in other parts of Europe and North America.