Researchers have shown that each additional year of schooling reduces the risk of death in adulthood.
- Regardless of age, gender, location or social background, people who have been in school the longest tend to die later than others, according to a new study.
- The risk of dying was thus reduced by 13% for children who had completed 6 years of primary school, by 25% for those who had obtained their secondary school diploma, and by 34% for those who had completed 18 years of primary school. schooling.
- Young people reap the most benefits from school but “those over 50 and even 70 still benefit from the protective effects of education,” according to the study. Furthermore, researchers have found that years of schooling have as many effects on health in rich countries as in poor countries.
Education saves lives, literally. Regardless of age, gender, place of residence or social background, people who have been in school the longest tend to die later than others. This is the conclusion of a vast study just published in the journal The Lancet Public Health.
Each additional year of education reduces mortality by 2%
To arrive at this observation, researchers from Center for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) examined more than 10,000 data points from 59 countries collected from 600 articles. The objective is to establish the potential link between the level of education and mortality.
The team first observed that “the risk of death decreases[ait] 2% with each additional year of education”can we read in a communicated. Thus, children who completed six years of primary school had a 13% lower risk of death on average. The chances of dying were reduced by almost 25% for those who had obtained their secondary school diploma (after high school), and even by 34% for young people who, in total, had eighteen years of schooling, including three of higher education.
The benefits of school comparable to a healthy diet
By comparing the effects of education to other risk factors such as poor diet, smoking or even overconsumption of alcohol, researchers found more or less the same impact on health. For example, never having gone to school would be as bad as drinking five or more alcoholic drinks a day, or smoking ten cigarettes a day for 10 years. Conversely, the benefits of eighteen years of schooling (versus no education) would be comparable to those of a diet rich in vegetables (versus no vegetables).
If it is young people who benefit most from the advantages of school, “those who are over 50 and even 70 still benefit from the protective effects of education”, specifies the study. Furthermore, the researchers found no significant differences between countries that have reached different stages of development: years of schooling are just as effective in rich countries as in poor countries.
“A good level of education leads to better employment, higher income, better access to healthcare. This helps you take care of your own health, observes researcher Mirza Balaj, lead author of the study. Highly educated people also tend to develop a greater number of social and psychological resources that contribute to their health.”
