Stunting and wasting in a growing economy: biological living standards in Portugal during the twentieth century

Alexandra Cermeño, Nuno Palma and Renato Pistola

Economics & Human Biology, 2023, vol. 51, issue C

Abstract: Portugal's real income per head grew by a factor of eight during the second half of the twentieth century, a period of fast convergence towards Western European living standards. We use a new sample of about 3,400 infants and children living in Lisbon to document trends in the prevalence of stunting and wasting between 1906 and 1994. We find that stunting and wasting fell quickly from around 1950, for both males and females. We additionally use a sample of more than 26,000 young adult males covering the entire country, which shows a consistent decrease in wasting and stunting with the expected time lag. We discuss these trends in relation to changes in income and public policy, which affected the ontogenetic environment of children. Sustained progress began well before the introduction of democracy.

Keywords: Anthropometrics; Economic development; Poverty; Child health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 N34 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Related works:
Working Paper: Stunting and Wasting in a Growing Economy: Biological Living Standards in Portugal during the Twentieth Century (2023)
Working Paper: Stunting and wasting in a growing economy: biological living standards in Portugal during the twentieth century (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:51:y:2023:i:c:s1570677x23000485

DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101267

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