Abstract

This article examines the role of school infrastructure in the development of two important massive diseases for the Chilean case: Smallpox, a disease that infested the country a hundred years ago; and obesity, the main current nutritional problem. The revision of the development of both diseases in school environments allows for the analysis of the relation between city and health. The relevance of this relationship goes beyond a determined historical context. This study suggests that these diseases, despite their different contexts, are understood in a common line that allows tracing them in specific situations. It is then proposed that policies against obesity and smallpox were of a sanitary nature. These policies adopted a holistic approach by incorporating architecture and urban space as variables that intervene in the formation and development of these diseases. Likewise, there is a new growing phenomenon, characterized by the incorporation of professionals of other fields, to combat diseases that may be labeled as school-based.