Life Expectancy: What Impacts Longevity?
Based on the efforts of researchers from Yale and the University of Alabama who followed 5,114 black and white individuals in four cities for about 30 years, a newly published study reported that education is a significant contributor to longevity. The study found that throughout the 30 years, approximately 13 percent of participants with a high school education (or less) died compared with only five percent of college graduates. When the researchers looked at race and education together, they found few differences related to race: 13.5 percent of black participants and 13.2 percent of whites with high school diplomas or less died during the course of the study compared to only 5.9 percent of blacks and 4.3 percent of whites with college degrees. Even when the researchers accounted for other variables such as income they found that level of education remained the best predictor of how long study participants would live.
Source:
Brita Roy et al, “Education, Race/Ethnicity, and Causes of Premature Mortality Among Middle-Aged Adults in 4 US Urban Communities: Results From CARDIA, 1985–2017.” American Journal of Public Health, February 20, 2020; e1 DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305506
More health news from this week’s bulletin:
- An Optimistic Partner Brings Big Benefits
- Negative Health Effects From Too Much Sitting
- A light and refreshing brunch idea: Apricots & Red Quinoa
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