Analysis of the mid-Victorian period in the U.K. reveals that life expectancy at age 5 was as good or better than exists today, and the incidence of degenerative disease was 10% of ours. Their levels of physical activity and hence calorific intakes were approximately twice ours. They had relatively little access to alcohol and tobacco; and due to their correspondingly high intake of fruits, whole grains, oily fish and vegetables, they consumed levels of micro- and phytonutrients at approximately ten times the levels considered normal today. This paper relates the nutritional status of the mid-Victorians to their freedom from degenerative disease; and extrapolates recommendations for the cost-effective improvement of public health today.
CITATION STYLE
Clayton, P., & Rowbotham, J. (2009). How the Mid-Victorians worked, Ate and Died. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6(3), 1235–1253. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph6031235
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