Fertility and mortality differences in relation to maternal body size

Abstract

The relationship between maternal stature, number of conceptions, offspring mortality and number of surviving children was studied in 291 Jalari women. Maternal stature averaged 150.98 cm, maternal age 35 years, number of conceptions 5.1 and number of surviving children 4.2. Adjusting for age and number of conceptions, the relationship between maternal stature and surviving children is significantly negative. Shorter women show significantly higher number of conceptions and surviving children than taller women (P less than 0.05). Intensity of natural selection (I) is computed for height and weight.