June 30, 2017.
Children with high intelligence quotient (IQ) lower their risk of dying prematurely, according to a study by a team of researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
A link between IQ and life expectancy
Having a high IQ is a great asset for a child, but it could also help them live longer. In any case, this is what Scottish researchers are saying in a study published in The British Medical Journal. According to this work, a link exists between intelligence developed during childhood and life expectancy. A high IQ during childhood would therefore be associated with a lower risk of premature death.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers sifted through the health data of over 33,000 men and 32,000 women born in 1936 in Scotland. All of these people had taken an IQ test at the age of 11. The authors of the work have, in parallel, sought to know the causes of death of people who had died before December 2015. For more accuracy, many factors were taken into account, such as the socio-economic status of these individuals.
The risks of dying prematurely greatly reduced
By combining all of this information, the researchers were able to establish that having a high IQ level during childhood reduced the risk of dying from respiratory disease by about 60%. As for the risk of dying from a stroke, cancer related to smoking or digestive disease, it was halved in people who had a high IQ compared to those who had a low level during childhood.
The risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or of committing suicide was also significantly reduced. Researchers, however, have found no link between a high IQ and the risk of dying from cancer other than tobacco-related. If no explanation has yet been provided, the researchers suggest thata better level of education or easier access to quality treatment could provide the beginnings of an answer.
Marine Rondot
Read also: Is your child gifted?
