García Montero, Héctor2025-01-272025-01-272022Garcia-Montero, H. (2022). Height, Nutritional and Economic Inequality in Central Spain, 1837–1936. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3397. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph190633971661-7827 | eISSN 1660-4601https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063397https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/25513The registered version of this article, first published in “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19", is available online at the publisher's website: MDPI, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063397 La versión registrada de este artículo, publicado por primera vez en “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19", está disponible en línea en el sitio web del editor: MDPI, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063397This article analyzes the evolution of inequality in mean male height in central Spain considering the generations born from 1837 to 1915, measured in the drafts from 1858 to 1936 (n = 53,503). Mean adult height reflects a crude indicator of net nutritional status, a proxy for currently known measures of stunting and wasting. The results reveal a cycle of stagnation and decline in average height at the age of 21 for those born from the 1850s to the 1870s and a subsequent positive secular trend to exceed baseline levels. The coefficient of variation shows how inequality in height followed an opposite pattern, with an increase in the mid-nineteenth century and a subsequent decline, with an overall decline. The great migratory wave towards Latin America (1880–1930) barely affected the area studied here. The available evidence on the occupations and educational level of the recruits reveals a ranking in average height related to family background and personal income, educational level and literacy, propinquity to food and ownership and/or management of land. Therefore, socioeconomic status largely predicted adult height in Spanish men during the period. Reducing absolute poverty and increasing access to education remain cornerstones to reducing malnutrition, even in the current world.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess53 Ciencias EconómicasartículoinequalitySpainheightanthropometricsnutritionbiological wellbeingliving standards