The association between male height and lifespan in rural Spain, birth cohorts 1835-1939

• Published in: Economics and human biology 2021-12, Vol.43, p.101022-101022, Article 101022
• Main Authors: Marco-Gracia, Francisco J., Puche, Javier
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological well-being; Birth Cohort; Body Height; Height; Humans; Later-life outcomes; Longevity; Male; Military Personnel; Nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Rural Spain; Socioeconomic Factors; Spain - epidemiology
• ISSN: 1570-677X; 1873-6130
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2021.101022

•A positive relationship between height and age at death has been evidenced.•Height is a good indicator of living and health conditions in adult life.•Socio-economic factors were decisive in early life conditions and adult height.•In the second half of the 19th century, tall men lived on average of 12 % more than short men did.•In the 20th century, the differences in life expectancy disappeared, benefiting especially the short men. This article analyses the relationship between male height and age at death and its evolution over time among conscripts born in fourteen villages in north-east rural Spain. A total of 1,488 conscripts born between 1835 and 1939 (and who died between 1868 and 2019) have been included in the analysis (based on the study of 3 sub-periods: 1835–1869, 1870–1899, and 1900–1939). The height data have been obtained from military service conscription records and the demographic and socioeconomic information of the deceased was obtained from parish archives and censuses. The data have been linked according to nominative criteria using family reconstitution methods. For the statistical analysis, we have used ordinary least squares (OLS) linear regressions with heteroskedasticity-robust estimation. The results suggest a positive relationship between height and lifespan in the long-term. For the birth cohorts of 1835–1869, conscripts with a height of 170 cm or more lived on average 7.6 years longer than conscripts measuring less than 160 cm. This difference in life expectancy tended to disappear for the birth cohorts of 1900–1939, benefiting especially the short conscripts who had greater possibilities to increase their average lifespan. The reasons that might explain these changes could reside in the improvements experienced by this group in terms of their living conditions, health and nutrition during the twentieth century.