RESUMEN: La estatura es utilizada por los pediatras y los antropólogos como medida de salud y bienestar de las poblaciones humanas. En las últimas décadas los historiadores la usan como indicador biológico del nivel vida para explorar el impacto producido por las transformaciones ambientales, sociales y económicas en el bienestar del pasado. Este artículo muestra las contribuciones históricas realizadas al tema por diferentes especialistas y compara la evolución de la estatura de los hombres en Francia y en España. Con datos de los reemplazos militares desde la década de 1770 hasta finales del siglo XX muestra los cambios seculares en ambos países y la existencia de ciclos como consecuencia de periodos de deterioro del estado nutricional.
This article analyses the relationship between male height and age at death among adults born between 1835 and 1939 in fourteen villages in north-east Spain. A total of 1,488 conscripts who died between 1868 and 2019 have been included in the analysis. The height data have been obtained from conscriptions for military service; demographic and socioeconomic data of the deceased were obtained from parish archives and censuses. The data were linked according to nominative criteria using family reconstitution methods. The results suggest that there has been a positive relationship between height and life span 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 individuals measuring less than 160 cm. This biological difference disappeared for the birth cohort of 1900-1939 due to a progressive improvement in health and nutrition conditions, benefiting especially the short conscripts.
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