Alexandra Lopez Cermeno
Associate senior lecturer
Stunting and wasting in a growing economy : Biological living standards in Portugal during the twentieth century
Author
Summary, in English
Portugal's real income per head grew by a factor of eight during the second half of the twentieth century, a period of fast convergence towards Western European living standards. We use a new sample of about 3,400 infants and children living in Lisbon to document trends in the prevalence of stunting and wasting between 1906 and 1994. We find that stunting and wasting fell quickly from around 1950, for both males and females. We additionally use a sample of more than 26,000 young adult males covering the entire country, which shows a consistent decrease in wasting and stunting with the expected time lag. We discuss these trends in relation to changes in income and public policy, which affected the ontogenetic environment of children. Sustained progress began well before the introduction of democracy.
Department/s
- Economic development of the Global South
- Department of Economic History
Publishing year
2023-12
Language
English
Publication/Series
Economics and Human Biology
Volume
51
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Keywords
- Anthropometrics
- Child health
- Economic development
- Poverty
- I15
- N34
- O15
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1873-6130