Victorian health

[Thornwood]

I read an article in the Times today about the diets of Victorian agricultural workers as opposed to their counterparts in the towns. Apparently a study has been done and it was found that agricultural workers were often paid in food and ate a similar diet to the Mediterranean diet which today is thought to be a healthy way of eating. Those in the towns were paid in money or in 'vouchers' to spend in the local shop often owned by the factory owner. Even with money milk and vegetables were often not available to buy.
In my family one side lived in the country and worked on the land; maybe they were lucky but in Victorian times I found none of the mothers dying in childbirth and very low infant mortality.  The other side of the family moved to the towns and worked in industry. I have men who married two or three times as their wives had died and many children dying before the age of five.
I had noticed this in my research, now a study has been done which gives a reason and the conclusion that it was better for your health to be a country peasant than a factory worker. I suppose the enclosure act was a reason for people moving to the towns in great numbers.

[iluleah]

This may be of interest to you https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672390/

[Top-of-the-hill]

   I was already aware that my Kent ancestors (peasants all) lost very few children. I am in the process of doing a study of the residents of this village from the 1841 census, and I am finding the same thing. Of course a few children died, but on the whole, in families of 8,9,10 children, almost all lived to adulthood.
   I will try to find the article you mentioned.
   2nd post came while I was typing - will look at that as well.

[Rena]

This may be of interest to you https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672390/

Thanks. I found that very long read was worthwhile and explains why my parents kith and kin, born early 20th century, who still ate Victorian diets mostly reached their active 80s and sometimes their active 90s before suddenly popping their clogs.

[iluleah]

This may be of interest to you https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672390/

Thanks. I found that very long read was worthwhile and explains why my parents kith and kin, born early 20th century, who still ate Victorian diets mostly reached their active 80s and sometimes their active 90s before suddenly popping their clogs.

Yes it certainly makes you think...... we train our children that to go anywhere we drive ( even to school)  'treat' then with McDonald's and other fast food commercially processed food available, lots of fizzy drinks and sweets, that food all comes in plastic wrappings, all veg are scrubbed clean often cut up or minced up and all food originates from a supermarket, in bags of more than we could eat before it goes bad and ding meals are the norm in many households........ think many of us now are only here because of health care and medication

[Skoosh]

Country-living wasn't what it was cracked out to be if you were a peasant in mid-19th century Ireland.
One & a half million folk died in the Great Famine & many more emigrated for a better life in the cities or coal-mines!

Skoosh.

[Rena]

Country-living wasn't what it was cracked out to be if you were a peasant in mid-19th century Ireland.
One & a half million folk died in the Great Famine & many more emigrated for a better life in the cities or coal-mines!

Skoosh.

That was due to them being solely reliant on one type of potato crop which was not suitable for the wet weather.  The same inclement weather affected crops in Scotland, England and mainland Europe, which I believe was a reason the Irish couldn't get assistance from elsewhere. 

[Sinann]

Country-living wasn't what it was cracked out to be if you were a peasant in mid-19th century Ireland.
One & a half million folk died in the Great Famine & many more emigrated for a better life in the cities or coal-mines!

Skoosh.

The excellent health of the people due to their diet was one of the reasons that famine (it wasn't the first)was so bad.
The Irish were taller, lived longer, were less likely to die in childbirth etc than their counterparts in the rest of Europe.
A huge number of people were dependant on the only crop that could be produced in the small amount of land available to them, when that crop failed the result was disastrous.

Poverty and conditions were terrible in per famine Ireland but health was great.
One of the main reason people continued to emigrate after the famine was the change in how land was passed on to the next generation, the shadow of the famine meant farms were no longer divided up between all the sons, forcing the younger men to find other ways to live and leaving the women no choice but to follow.

Once they got to the city things ware different, as has already been said, health in the cities left a lot to be desired.

[Sinann]

Country-living wasn't what it was cracked out to be if you were a peasant in mid-19th century Ireland.
One & a half million folk died in the Great Famine & many more emigrated for a better life in the cities or coal-mines!

Skoosh.

That was due to them being solely reliant on one type of potato crop which was not suitable for the wet weather.  The same inclement weather affected crops in Scotland, England and mainland Europe, which I believe was a reason the Irish couldn't get assistance from elsewhere. 

The potato crop did fail all over Europe at the time, but that wasn't why the help the Irish got fell short, it was a far more complex suitation.