Determinants of height and biological inequality in Mediterranean Spain, 1859-1967

- We analyze the determinants of height in the Mediterranean region of Spain (1859-1967).
- Average height increased by 7.5 cm, the CV (height inequality) decreased by 0.6.
- Height was influenced by socioeconomic status and by the environmental conditions.
- Agricultural workers were shorter (by 3.6 cm) than non-manual skilled workers.
- The average height of the urban population was 1 cm less than its rural counterpart.

This article analyses not only the determinants of the height of Spain's male populations between 1859 and 1960 but also the influence that social inequality had upon biological well-being. The height data of 82,039 conscripts constitute the principal source for this analysis. The study area comprises the current Valencian region, located in central Mediterranean Spain. During the period under study, the average height of conscripts increased by 7.5 cm, while the coefficient of variation decreased by 0.6 between the 1870s and 1930 indicating that height inequality declined, although it increased by 0.2 among the cohorts born during the period of Francoist regime. Our results show that, in the long run, the height and biological well-being of the populations conscripted in Mediterranean Spain were determined by socioeconomic status and environmental contexts: that there was a close correlation among education, occupation, income, and stature. Literate conscripts were always taller than illiterate ones (by nearly 1 cm), and agricultural workers, with fewer economic resources, were significantly shorter (by 3.6 cm) than highly qualified non-manual workers.