Child Labour and Height in the early Spanish industrialization

Child labour has been considered a health risk affecting physical growth. Together with income, diets, diseases and environmental hygiene, child labour is one of the determinants of height. This paper examines whether child labour affected the stature of young workers during the spread of industrialization. With military recruitment heights it is analyzed the impact that child labour might have on physical health and nutritional status. After reporting on what happened during the Industrial Revolution in Britain, France and other industrialized countries, it is highlighted the contribution made by Spanish hygienists, whose importance has increased since the 1880´s. The following sections provide results of height evolution at the beginning of Spanish industrialization in major industrial and mining districts. Our findings emphasize the stature deterioration resulting from child labour, and the remarkable role that anthropometric history plays within economic and social history, and labour history too.