Chest Circumference and Health. A Study on Italian Military Call up Registers (19th-20th C.)
Alessio Fornasin, University of Udine
Matteo Manfredini, University of Parma
The paper aims at investigating the link between health and nutrition in the conscripts of Friuli (Northeastern Italy) between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. In Friuli, in fact, chest circumference of young adults, which is a good proxy of nutritional status, presents a geographic variation which recalls the territorial spread of certain diseases associated with food shortages, such as goiter (determined by the lack of iodine). The richness and detail of the information recorded in the call-up registers will allow us to get more in depth in the analysis of such a relationship by estimating a hazard model in which conscript's chest circumference is related to height, age, date of medical examination, place of residence, occupation and the price of maize of the twelve months prior to the medical examination.
Presented in Session 51. Health and the State