Anthropometric studies have given much attention to the impact of industrialization and urbanization on the biological standards of living of urban populations. Instead, we know less about the evolution of height and the disparities within the rural world and how they have changed during the modern economic growth process. This article analyzes the evolution and the determining factors that would explain the inequality of the biological welfare of a group of rural populations in Mediterranean Spain. Using a database of the heights of military conscripts (N = 146,041) of the study area, a comparison is made of the biological well-being of the cohorts born between 1840 and 1965 in different rural environments (irrigated vs. dry farming). The results show that the recruits residing in irrigated areas were taller than those in dry farming areas and that the nutritional differences were greater among the latter. The advantage of the heights in irrigated areas widened with the development of commercial agriculture at the end of the nineteenth century and, although it began to reduce from the early decades of the twentieth century, the anthropometric gap persisted throughout the period analyzed. The data also suggest that the distribution of income was also more unequal in the dry farming areas, where the diet was less varied and rich than in the irrigated areas. This situation could be largely explained by the existence of low productivity agriculture in these dry farming areas, among other possible factors.

人体测量学研究非常关注工业化和城市化对城市人口生物生活水平的影响。相反，我们对农村地区的身高变化和差距以及它们在现代经济增长过程中的变化知之甚少。本文分析了西班牙地中海地区一组农村人口生物福利不平等的演变和决定因素。使用研究区应征入伍军人（N = 146,041）的身高数据库，比较了 1840 年至 1965 年间出生在不同农村环境（灌溉与旱作农业）的同伙的生物健康状况。结果表明，居住在灌区的新兵比旱地的新兵个子高，而且后者的营养差异更大。随着 19 世纪末商业农业的发展，灌区高地的优势扩大了，尽管从 20 世纪初的几十年开始减少，但在整个分析期间，人体测量学的差距一直存在。数据还表明，旱作区的收入分配也更加不平等，那里的饮食比灌溉区的多样化和丰富。这种情况在很大程度上可以由这些旱作区的低生产力农业以及其他可能的因素来解释。随着 19 世纪末商业农业的发展，灌区高地的优势扩大了，尽管从 20 世纪初的几十年开始减少，但在整个分析期间，人体测量学的差距一直存在。数据还表明，旱作区的收入分配也更加不平等，那里的饮食比灌溉区的多样化和丰富。这种情况在很大程度上可以由这些旱作区的低生产力农业以及其他可能的因素来解释。随着 19 世纪末商业农业的发展，灌区高地的优势扩大了，尽管从 20 世纪初的几十年开始减少，但在整个分析期间，人体测量学的差距一直存在。数据还表明，旱作区的收入分配也更加不平等，那里的饮食比灌溉区的多样化和丰富。这种情况在很大程度上可以由这些旱作区的低生产力农业以及其他可能的因素来解释。在整个分析期间，人体测量学的差距一直存在。数据还表明，旱作区的收入分配也更加不平等，那里的饮食比灌溉区的多样化和丰富。这种情况在很大程度上可以由这些旱作区的低生产力农业以及其他可能的因素来解释。在整个分析期间，人体测量学的差距一直存在。数据还表明，旱作区的收入分配也更加不平等，那里的饮食比灌溉区的多样化和丰富。这种情况在很大程度上可以由这些旱作区的低生产力农业以及其他可能的因素来解释。