Poor but tall. The height premium in the Canary Islands at the beginning of nutritional transition

José-Miguel Martínez Carrión (), Begoña Candela-Martínez (), Cándido Román-Cervantes () and Ginés Díaz-Carmona
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: José Miguel Martínez-Carrión ()

Documentos de Trabajo de la Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria from Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria

Abstract: This article explores the beginnings of the nutritional transition in relation to height in male populations of the Canary Islands. With military recruitment data for the cohorts of 1860 and 1915, it shows the insular advantage (height premium) compared to the average height of the Spanish populations of the Iberian Peninsula. The secular trend for height was positive. The increase in height of 2.4 cm during the expansive cycle of the island economy was comparable to that of the Spanish average. It also highlights the biological variability of the heights, probably due to the genetic composition of the island populations, and that the average urban height was greater than the average rural height. Finally, we find that height inequality increased in years when average height decreased, especially between 1866-80 and 1900-1905. The Canarian height premium is analyzed based on the insular environment, climate, economic cycles, and diet.

Keywords: Biological welfare; nutritional transition; Canary Islands; height premium; rural-urban height gap; inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 I31 N33 N34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2022-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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