A04 The health of the Italians

This area of the exhibition explores the issues of health and nutrition among the Italian peasant population in the mid-19th century.

Widespread malnutrition made everyone more exposed to diseases, some of which, like pellagra, were directly linked to nutritional deficiencies. The lack of medicines and vaccines also caused a high infant mortality rate and shortened average life expectancy. In 1861, almost four out of ten children did not reach their fifth birthday (today the percentage is less than three per thousand); life expectancy at birth was less than 50 years (today it is about 83 years).

Consequently, malnutrition - if not outright starvation - and disease marked the rural condition in Italy, from North to South, and were a powerful incentive to leave in search of a better future elsewhere. Thanks to a multimedia installation, visitors can sit down at the table with 19th-century Italian peasants to discover how the quality and quantity of food was clearly insufficient for the energy needs of children and adults. One can also consult the two touch screens to find out which diseases were widespread in Italy at the time and what effect they had on the population.