A research done by scientists of Yale University has concluded the effects of Darwin’s natural selection spread over two generations of contemporary women and has predicted that their descendants would be a little shorter and chubbier.

The other findings suggested lower cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and have their first born earlier.

These findings were disclosed at the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were based on the analysis of women who have participated in the famous Framingham Heart Study that began in 1948.

This study negates the belief that due to advent of modern medicine, the age old theory of natural selection was no longer applicable on humans. Many believed that due to social welfare especially in the wealthier parts of the globe, evolution had come to a standstill. But evolutionary biologist Dr Stephen Stearns of Yale University differed, "The idea that natural selection has stopped operating in humans because we have gotten better at keeping people alive is just plain wrong". He has found evidence that inheritable traits such as weight and height still influence how many children a woman has and how healthy they will be.

The study looked at the medical records of 2,238 middle-aged and elderly who were tested on whether weight, height, blood pressure, cholesterol and other traits were linked to the number of children she had. Appropriate adjustments for various parameters such as education, income & health were made.

If the report is to be believed, then the woman in 2409 would be 2 cm shorter, 1 kg heavier, would have her 1st child 5 months earlier and go through menopause 10 months later.