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Articles in Completing more years of education is associated with better health outcomes.

  • The higher the amount of income inequality in a society (inequality between rich and poor), the higher the mortality in the lower economic segment. Lack of high school education accounts for the income inequality effect and is a powerful predictor of mortality variation among US states.

    Muller A. 2002. Education, income inequality, and mortality: a multiple regression analysis. British Medical Journal 324(23).

  • A longitudinal study found that socio-emotional classroom adjustment in elementary school, reading achievement in middle school, and students’ expectation to attend college were negatively associated with depression and drug use. Another prospective cohort study found that adolescent school failures predisposed girls to depression in young adulthood.

    Topitzes, J; Godes, O; Mersky, JP, et al. 2009. Educational Success and Adult Health: Findings from the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Prevention Science 10(2): 175-195.
    McCarty CA, Mason WA, Kosterman R, Hawkins JD, Lengua LJ, McCauley E. 2008. Adolescent school failure predicts later depression among girls. Journal of Adolescent Health 43(2): 180-187.

  • Persons with 12 or fewer years of education had a higher risk of major depressive disorder, compared with those with at least some education beyond high school.

    Mezuk B, Eaton WW, Golden SH, Ding Y. 2008. The influence of educational attainment on depression and risk of type 2 diabetes. Am J Public Health. 98(8):1480-5.

  • Age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of binge drinking was lower among college graduates (14.5%) than among high school graduates or those who received some college or technical school education (both 17.1%).

    Cremeens JL, Nelson D, Naimi TS, Brewer RD, Pearson WS, Chavez, PR. 2009. Sociodemographic Differences in Binge Drinking Among Adults-14 States, 2004. CDC. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 58(12): 301-304

  • Smoking prevalence was inversely associated with education level among men of all ages combined in individual countries of the European Union.

    Huisman M, Kunst AE, Mackenbach JP. 2005. Inequalities in the prevalence of smoking in the European Union: comparing education and income. Prev Med 40:756–764.

  • A review found that negative associations between larger body sizes for women and education levels were common in highly developed countries.

    McLaren L. 2007. Socioeconomic status and obesity. Epidemiologic Reviews. 29:29–48

  • A California study found an inverse association between education level and body mass index among all US-born respondents, although the association was less discernible among men than among women.

    Sanchez-Vaznaugh EV, Kawachi I, Subramanian SV, Sánchez BN, Acevedo-Garcia D. 2009. Do Socioeconomic Gradients in Body Mass Index Vary by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Birthplace? American Journal of Epidemiology 169(9): 1102-1112.

  • Independent of income, education level is associated with improved health outcomes: each additional year in school is associated with increased life expectancy.

    Lleras-Muney A. 2005. The relationship between education and adult mortality in the United States. Review of Economics Studies 72: 189-221.

  • Less education is a stronger predictor of partaking in cardiovascular risk behaviors including smoking, poor nutrition, and sedentary behavior than other socioeconomic status measures such as income or occupation.

    Winkelby MA, Jatulis DE, Frank E, Fortmann SP. 1992. Socieconomic status and health: How education, income and occupation contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Am J Public Health 82:816-820.

  • In a study in Sweden, women with low educational levels were 2.5 times more likely to have Type 2 diabetes than those with high education levels.

    Agardh EE, Ahlbom A, Andersson T. 2007. Socioeconomic position at three points in life in association with type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in middle aged Swedish men and women. Int J Epi 30(1):84-92.

  • Higher education leads to lower hostility, and hostility is linked to coronary heart disease, alcohol use, obesity, and premature mortality.

    Barefoot JC, Peterson BL, Dahlstrom WG, Siegler IC, Anderson NB, Williams RB. 1991. Hostility patterns and health implications: Correlates of Cook-Medley Hostility Scale scores in a national survey. Health Psychology 10:18-24.

  • Between 1960 and1986, death rates declined more steeply for men and women with higher educational attainment: among men with high educational attainment, death rate declined 50%, among those with low educational attainment, the decline was only 15%.

    Pappas G, Queen S, Hadden W, Fisher G. 1993. The increasing disparity in mortality between socioeconomic groups in the US, 1960 and 1986. New England Journal of Medicine 329:103-109.

  • Those who are highly educated are likely to eat healthier. In one study, 37.2% of college graduates had consumed fruit two or more times a day and 33.3% of three or more servings of vegetables--the highest levels compared to those with less education.

    CDC. 2007. Fruit and vegetable consumption among adults: United States 2005. MMWR 56(10):213-217.

  • In the United States smoking prevalence was more than three times higher among those with only 11 years of education, compared to college graduates (38.2% vs. 12.3% respectively).

    CDC. 1996. Cigarette smoking among adults: United States, 1994. MMWR 45:588-590.

  • The more educated tend to better manage life-threatening illnesses and are more likely to comply with demanding treatments.

    Goldma DP, Smith JP. 2002. Can patient self-management explain the SES health gradient. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, August 6, 99(16): 10929-34.