Niveles de vida biológicos en Castilla-La Mancha durante el siglo xx. El caso de Hellín

Abstract

This article analyzes the biological quality of life in south-eastern Castile-La Mancha during the 20th century through a case study. The objective is to determine the extent of the biological well-being in a primarily agricultural community characterized by relative poverty and backwardness. By using the heights of the military recruits of Hellin from 1908-1985, the results show that the average heights were among the lowest in Spain. This was despite the substantial increase in biological well-being in the second half of the twentieth century, suggesting that nutritional status poverty was much more widespread than in the Mediterranean Spain. It concludes that the socioeconomic changes had a significant influence on the case analyzed, which showed a poorer biological quality of life compared to that of the nearby towns of Murcia and Valencia, and the decline in the mean height became more evident in times of privation and scarcity.