Biological Well-Being and Inequality in Canary Islands: Lanzarote (Cohorts 1886-1982).

Developments in anthropometric history in the Iberian Peninsula have been remarkable in recent decades. In contrast, we barely know about the behavior of insular population groups and infants' and adults' growth during the nutritional transition in the Canary Islands. This paper analyzes the height, weight and body mass index of military recruits (conscripts) in a rural municipality from the eastern Canaries during the economic modernization process throughout the 20th century. The case study (municipality of San Bartolomé (SB) in Lanzarote, the island closest to the African continent) uses anthropometric data of military recruits from 1907-2001 (cohorts from 1886 to 1982). The final sample is composed of 1921 recruits' records that were measured and weighed at the ages of 19-21 years old when adolescent growth had finished. The long-term anthropometric study is carried out using two approaches: a malnutrition and growth retardation approach and an inequality perspective. In the first one, we use the methodology recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) that is based on z-scores. In the second one, we implement several inequality dimensions such as the coefficient of variation (CV), percentiles and an analysis for height and BMI evolution by five socioeconomic categories. The data suggest that improvements in biological well-being were due to advances in nutrition since the 1960s. They show that infant nutrition is sensitively associated with economic growth and demographic and epidemiological changes.

Social Value and Urban Sustainability in Food Markets.

Urban food markets can promote sustainable development through the generation of social value in the spaces where they are located and contribute to sustainability on a global scale. To measure this, indicators are required to evaluate and monitor these markets. Studies in this regard are scarce and often developed according to top-down schemes. This study seeks to remedy this relative deficiency and aims to design specific social sustainability metrics for these organizations from a bottom-up perspective. The Integrated Social Value model is used. This social accounting system is considered appropriate in this study due to the phenomenological approach on which it is based and is applied to a service cooperative located in the Canary Islands. The main contribution of this work is that new social sustainability indicators are obtained and applied to the analysis of an entity, and they are relevant and understandable to stakeholders. This would provide, in future developments, a system of sustainability indicators for similar organizations in Spain.

Entre los más altos de España. El estado nutricional en las Canarias occidentales: cohortes masculinas de 1860-1915 / Among the highest in Spain. Nutritional status in the western Canary Islands: male cohorts 1860-1915

Objetivo: analizamos la dinámica del estado nutricional en las Canarias con datos de la altura masculina durante la segunda mitad del siglo xix y su dimensión en el contexto español. Métodos: con datos del reclutamiento militar, hacemos una estimación de la talla promedio masculina en edades de 19-21 años por cohortes de nacimiento para el periodo 1860-1915. Disponemos de las estadísticas (regionales) de reclutamiento y reemplazo de España a comienzos del siglo xx y, a escala local, de las actas de clasificación y declaración de soldados de tres municipios de la provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. La muestra está compuesta por 15.645 quintos de Santa Cruz de la Palma (La Palma), La Orotava y Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tenerife). Resultados: la talla masculina alcanza los valores más altos conocidos en España en el siglo xix y registra un incremento de 2,86 cm entre las cohortes de 1860 y 1915. Se discuten los determinantes de la ventaja de la talla canaria. La dieta, la menor incidencia de enfermedades y un ambiente favorable para la salud debido a un clima benigno pudieron ser factores decisivos de la ventaja del estado nutricional en Canarias. Conclusiones: la talla media masculina de las Canarias occidentales se sitúa más cerca de los parámetros de la Europa occidental que de los de la España peninsular. Aunque eran relativamente pobres, los adolescentes canarios exhiben el mayor bienestar físico de España desde 1860 a 1915 y un patrón de bienestar biológico y nutricional similar al de la Europa desarrollada e industrial

Objective: we analyzed the evolution of nutritional status in the Canary Islands (province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife) during the second half of the 19th century and its scope in the Spanish context. Methods: with data on military recruitment, we estimated the average male height at ages 19-21 years by birth cohorts for the period 1860-1915. We analyzed the Recruitment and Replacement Statistics of Spain for the beginning of the 20th century (regional data) and the Classification and Declaration of Soldiers Acts of three municipalities of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The sample consists of 15,645 conscripts of Santa Cruz de la Palma (La Palma), La Orotava and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tenerife). Results: the male height reached the highest values known in Spain in the 19th century and recorded an increase of 2.86 cm between the cohorts of 1860 and 1915. The determinants of the advantage of Canarian stature are discussed. The diet, the lower incidence of diseases and favorable environmental conditions for health, due to a mild climate, could be decisive factors of the nutritional status advantage in the Canary Islands. Conclusions: the average male height of the western Canary Islands is closer to the parameters of Western Europe than of the peninsular Spain. Even being relatively poor, Canarian adolescents exhibit the greatest physical wellbeing in Spain from 1860 to 1915 and a pattern of biological and nutritional well-being similar to that of the more developed and industrial Europe

[Among the highest in Spain. Nutritional status in the western Canary Islands: male cohorts 1860-1915]. / Entre los más altos de España. El estado nutricional en las Canarias occidentales: cohortes masculinas de 1860-1915.

OBJECTIVE: we analyzed the evolution of nutritional status in the Canary Islands (province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife) during the second half of the 19th century and its scope in the Spanish context. METHODS: with data on military recruitment, we estimated the average male height at ages 19-21 years by birth cohorts for the period 1860-1915. We analyzed the Recruitment and Replacement Statistics of Spain for the beginning of the 20th century (regional data) and the Classification and Declaration of Soldiers Acts of three municipalities of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The sample consists of 15,645 conscripts of Santa Cruz de la Palma (La Palma), La Orotava and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tenerife). RESULTS: the male height reached the highest values known in Spain in the 19th century and recorded an increase of 2.86 cm between the cohorts of 1860 and 1915. The determinants of the advantage of Canarian stature are discussed. The diet, the lower incidence of diseases and favorable environmental conditions for health, due to a mild climate, could be decisive factors of the nutritional status advantage in the Canary Islands. CONCLUSIONS: the average male height of the western Canary Islands is closer to the parameters of Western Europe than of the peninsular Spain. Even being relatively poor, Canarian adolescents exhibit the greatest physical wellbeing in Spain from 1860 to 1915 and a pattern of biological and nutritional well-being similar to that of the more developed and industrial Europe.

Objetivo: analizamos la dinámica del estado nutricional en las Canarias con datos de la altura masculina durante la segunda mitad del siglo xix y su dimensión en el contexto español.Métodos: con datos del reclutamiento militar, hacemos una estimación de la talla promedio masculina en edades de 19-21 años por cohortes de nacimiento para el periodo 1860-1915. Disponemos de las estadísticas (regionales) de reclutamiento y reemplazo de España a comienzos del siglo XX y, a escala local, de las actas de clasificación y declaración de soldados de tres municipios de la provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. La muestra está compuesta por 15.645 quintos de Santa Cruz de la Palma (La Palma), La Orotava y Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tenerife).Resultados: la talla masculina alcanza los valores más altos conocidos en España en el siglo XIX y registra un incremento de 2,86 cm entre las cohortes de 1860 y 1915. Se discuten los determinantes de la ventaja de la talla canaria. La dieta, la menor incidencia de enfermedades y un ambiente favorable para la salud debido a un clima benigno pudieron ser factores decisivos de la ventaja del estado nutricional en Canarias.Conclusiones: la talla media masculina de las Canarias occidentales se sitúa más cerca de los parámetros de la Europa occidental que de los de la España peninsular. Aunque eran relativamente pobres, los adolescentes canarios exhiben el mayor bienestar físico de España desde 1860 a 1915 y un patrón de bienestar biológico y nutricional similar al de la Europa desarrollada e industrial.