Abstract
Typifying historical populations using anthropometric indicators such as height, BMI and weight allows for an analysis of the prevalence of obesity and malnutrition. This study evaluates secular changes in height, weight and body mass for men cohorts at 21 years old, born between 1934 and 1954 who were called up between 1955 and 1974, in the city of Madrid, Spain. In this study we prove the hypothesis that anthropometric variables increase thanks to improvement in diet and significant investments in hygiene and health infrastructure during the 1960s. The results of our analysis show a positive secular change in the trends for height (an increase of 4.67 cm), weight (6.400 kg) and BMI (0.90 Kg/m2), the result of a recovery in standards of living following the war and the autarchy of the 1940s. We also observed a slight trend towards obesity and a reduction in underweight categories at the end of the period is also observed. In conclusion, the secular trends of anthropometric variables in the city of Madrid reflect the recovery of living standards after the deterioration of the nutritional status suffered during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the deprivation of the autarchic period.
Highlights
The human life cycle is characterised by a long period of growth which provides great biological plasticity, allowing us to adapt to changing environmental situations [1]
Hatton and Bray [7] have described an average increase in height of 11 cm in 15 western European countries in cohorts born between the mid-19th to the second half of the 20th centuries, that is, one centimeter per decade. This increase was intense and came sooner in countries in northern and central Europe, with the fastest growth in the periods 1911–1915 and 1951–1955, whereas in southern Europe it was in the periods 1951–1955 and 1976–1980 [7,8].The strong increase in height and in other biological variables in developed countries has been linked to socioeconomic growth, mainly to improvements in nutrition, income, public health and education—the so-called Technophysio evolution [9,10]
The strong increase in the size of the bodies was the response to the fabulous economic growth and expansion of the Welfare State, which had its greatest expression after World War II
Summary
The human life cycle is characterised by a long period of growth which provides great biological plasticity, allowing us to adapt to changing environmental situations [1]. The speed of growth changes over the different stages of the life cycle, being at its highest in the foetal stage, childhood and adolescence [2] During these critical stages, a negative energy balance due to lack of food, physical effort, infections or stressful situations affects development irreversibly [3]. A negative energy balance due to lack of food, physical effort, infections or stressful situations affects development irreversibly [3] This biological plasticity can be seen in the so-called secular trends, somatic and physiological modifications in successive cohorts due to environmental change, and negative, positive and reversible [4]. This increase was intense and came sooner in countries in northern and central Europe, with the fastest growth in the periods 1911–1915 and 1951–1955, whereas in southern Europe it was in the periods 1951–1955 and 1976–1980 [7,8].The strong increase in height and in other biological variables in developed countries has been linked to socioeconomic growth, mainly to improvements in nutrition, income, public health and education—the so-called Technophysio evolution [9,10]
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