A new statistical methodology for evaluating the diffusion of milk in the Spanish Population: Consumer groups and milk consumption, 1865–1981

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThis article analyses the diffusion of milk consumption in Spain between 1865 and 1980, and uses a new statistical approach to estimate consumer groups and their milk consumption. This new methodology shows that these variables increased at different speeds chronologically and geographically. Two main phases can be distinguished in terms of the diffusion of milk consumption. The first phase, between the mid-19th century and the 1950s, was characterised by concentrated consumption in producer regions and big cities and the persistence of stark differences between regions. The second, between the 1950s and the 1980s, was chiefly characterised by an increase in the total number of consumers and the disappearance of these regional differences. Nueva estrategia estadística para evaluar la difusión de la leche en la población española: poblaciones consumidoras y consumo de leche, 1865-1981Códigos JEL: N34 N54 N94Palabras clave: Consumo de leche Transición nutricional España Diferencias regionales r e s u m e n En este artículo, analizamos la difusión del consumo de leche en España entre , tomando en consideración una nueva aproximación estadística para estimar las poblaciones y el consumo de leche en estos colectivos. Con la nueva metodología, mostramos que estas variables aumentaron con diferente intensidad, a lo largo del tiempo y a escala regional. Esta circunstancia nos permite distinguir dos grandes etapas en la difusión de la leche en la dieta. En la primera, hasta los años 1950, destacaría, sobre todo, el aumento del consumo en las poblaciones consumidoras y las grandes ciudades, y la pervivencia de elevados niveles de desigualdad a escala regional. En la segunda, hasta los años 1980, destacaría el aumento del número de consumidores, y la desaparición de aquellas desigualdades.

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

“…In addition to high levels of energy, protein and micro- and macronutrients, milk contains calcium and insulin-like growth factor 1, which are of great importance for the development and growth of children [ 87 ]. Recent studies on the evolution of dairy consumption in Spain show its growing importance from the first decades of the 20th century and especially since 1960 [ 82 , 88 , 89 , 90 ]. In Lanzarote and other Canary Islands, there were advances in sheep and goat farming, as well as pigs, and the consumption of milk from goats of the majorera breed has been well documented since the 15th century [ 91 ].…”

Children’s Diet during the Early Stages of the Nutritional Transition. The Foundlings in the Hospital of Valencia (Spain), 1852–1931

“…Similarly, increases in calcium consumption were common to all hospital diets, especially among foundlings as a result of the consumption of milk. It is worth noting that, towards the end of the period under study, milk consumption in the hospital was well above that of the population as a whole, in which the consumption of milk made headway but slowly, and at first only among very specific social groups [15,51,52]. The results also show that foundlings consumed comparatively less iron and zinc than other hospital groups, as their intake levels remained below average.…”

The Nutritional Condition of the Spanish Soldier: “Spain. Nutrition Survey of the Armed Forces, a Report by the Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defence 1958”

“…This bias in favour of air force and navy recruits, who were better fed owing to their geographical origin and the stricter entry requirements, is probably offset, at least partially, by the overrepresentation of drafts from the central and southern regions, which throughout the first half of the 20th century presented worse living condition indicators than the northern regions, for instance, infant mortality [ 27 ] (pp. 44–58), income distribution [ 28 ], per capita income [ 29 ], and milk consumption [ 30 ]. This can be illustrated by the average height of the subjects of the study, which was 164.6 cm, compared with 166.21 cm for the whole draft, according to the Military Statistics Report [ 20 ].…”