Nivel de vida, estatura y medio ambiente en el valle de La Orotava, ss. XIX-XX

Abstract

Recent research anthropometric history throw new lines of work on trends in nutritional status, health, living standards and the biological. The article shows through analysis of an indicator as the average size of the young men who accessed to the army, living conditions and the welfare state of the Orotava Valley on the island of Tenerife. With the reconstruction of height series shows the level of the biological health of a population dedicated to agriculture and fishing. The paper analyzes the occupations of farming groups and subgroups where the differences in height between laborers, sharecroppers and owners in relation to the artisans, merchants and other professions, is an indicator between height and occupation. The vertical nature of the territory led to the development of different plants providing better and more varied diet. Furthermore, the altitude and mild climate without great contrasts, favored to make themselves a variety of environmental changes affecting health.