Chilean State Food Policies to Reduce Child Mortality (1930-1970)

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between infant mortality and nutrition from 1930 to 1970, a period framed by the Pasteurization Act, which sanitized milk and reduced gastrointestinal illnesses and mortality, and the expansion of milk distribution programs and the work of the National Health Service. The hypothesis suggests that the lack of nutritious food and poor hygiene, causing high mortality gradually declined due to the creation of pro-child state institutions. The study is based on mixed methodology, focusing on the qualitative aspects of written sources (such as laws, medical articles, memoirs, and the press) and the quantitative aspects of statistical records (such as statistical yearbooks). It concludes that the state’s child-centered ideology and practice spilled over into other social fields, attracting a range of actors who crystallized changes in child nutrition and demographics in the late 1960s.