Socioeconomic Interactions with Physique and Fertility

Document Type

Article

Authors

Stephan M. Bailey, Center for Human Growth and Development and University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI
Stanley M. Garn, Center for Human Growth and Development, Ann Arbor, MI

Abstract

Analysis of reproductive data from 4829 mothers in the Ten-State Nutrition Survey of 1968-70 shows that associations between five measures of physique and fertility are explained by socioeconomic influences on each, here indicated by per-capita income. This socially-determined differential fertility of physique categories appears to be linear rather than modal in character, while income and fertility interact in a curvilinear manner. These data also suggest the existence of a secular trend for certain physical characteristics, particularly fatness, which are subject to social transmission between generations. The demographic implications of such a trend may include an increase in total population fatness.

Recommended Citation

Bailey, Stephan M. and Garn, Stanley M. (1979) "Socioeconomic Interactions with Physique and Fertility," Human Biology: Vol. 51: Iss. 3, Article 7.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol51/iss3/7