Health, Nutrition and Inequality in Latin America

An Anthropometric History

Manuel Llorca-Jaña, José Miguel Martínez-Carrión, Ricardo Salvatore

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Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Routledge
30 September 2025

History of the Americas; International economics; Development economics; Economic history

Series: Routledge Explorations in Economic History

Drawing on anthropometric data, this book examines the evolution of biological living standards of Latin American populations and evaluates the inequality of nutrition and health in the region in the modern era.

Utilising data from the 19th and 20th centuries, and providing broad coverage of Latin America, the chapters analyse the following topics: the evolution of stature before and after independence; the effects of economic modernisation since the 1870s and 1880s, that were accompanied by profound political, demographic, epidemiological and environmental changes that affected biological well-being of the population; the trend and evolution of anthropometric measures associated with nutritional, demographic and epidemiological transitions; the prevalence of malnutrition associated with stunting and obesity in traditional and modern societies, both rural and urban; the reduction or expansion of regional, social, income and educational differences in biological living standards as measured by mean heights; and the evolution of stature sexual dimorphism and the comparative importance of nutritional inequality by race and gender. The book highlights, on the one hand, the importance of anthropometric indicators to analyse living standards and human well-being in historical perspective and, on the other hand, the value of an interdisciplinary approach in examining questions of human growth and biological wellbeing.

The book will be of great interest to readers in economic history, Latin American history and studies and the history of inequality and living standards.

Edited by: Manuel Llorca-Jaña, José Miguel Martínez-Carrión, Ricardo Salvatore
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781032847207
ISBN 10: 1032847204
Series: Routledge Explorations in Economic History
Pages: 252
Publication Date: 30 September 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

1. Introduction to an Anthropometric History of Latin America 2. Growing up in turbulent times: Economic growth and biological wellbeing in Argentina, 1966-2000 3. Height inequality in Chile: an empirical analysis for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries 4. Biological Standards of Living in Bolivia, 1880s-1990s 5. Height and health in Cartagena de Indias. Skeletal evidence from the 16th to the 19th Century 6. Feeding Mexico’s Growth: Nutrition and Living Standards in Twentieth-Century Mexico 7. Bodies of the Revolution: The Biological Wellbeing of Families in Central and Northern Mexico, 1880s-1940s 8. The biological welfare in Ecuador over the second half of the 20th century: an analysis of sociodemographic determinants of cohort adult height 9. Height of Uruguayan men in 19th and 20th centuries. A story of growth and stagnation (1870-2000) 10. Parental socioeconomic status and inequality of opportunity in body height of Brazilians: Evidence from cohorts born between 1940 and 1975 11. Socioeconomic Characteristics and the Nutrition Transition in Brazil: an analysis of the main national surveys from 1974 to 2019 12. The height of prisoners in early 20th-century Cuba: An approach to the biological well-being of the working poor

Manuel Llorca-Jaña is a Full Professor of Economic and Business History at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (Chile). José Miguel Martínez-Carrión is a Full Professor of History and Economic Institutions at the University of Murcia (Spain). Ricardo Salvatore is Professor of Modern History at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires.

Reviews for Health, Nutrition and Inequality in Latin America: An Anthropometric History

“This book makes a fundamental contribution to the study of anthropometric history in Latin America and is essential reading for those researching economic history and the Social-Economic-Political-Emotional (SEPE) Factors that impact biological well-being in the region."" - Barry Bogin (Loughborough University), author of Patterns of Human Growth, 3rd edition www.cambridge.org/9781108434485 “This fine collection of essays, covering nine countries, and written by leading Latin American economic historians, provides readers with a valuable ‘state of the art’ of anthropometric history in the región. It shows well how the study of human stature can provide insights on the long-term evolution of welfare and inequality, while offering particularly new perspectives on both the colonial period and the second half of the twentieth century as well as the better-researched late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Its wide coverage, including innovative essays on previously neglected countries like Cuba, Ecuador, and Bolivia, is extremely welcome”. - Rory M. Miller (University of Liverpool). “The study of human height as a welfare indicator is particularly promising in Latin America with its rich archival tradition: this book makes full use of these available sources and generates completely new insights”. - Joerg Baten (Tübingen University).