Can education improve health?

Numerous studies have found a connection between education and health. In a June 3, 2019 New York Times article, Austin Frakt of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health discussed research from the past few decades suggesting that higher education levels may reduce the risk of conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, and anxiety and depression, as well as lower the risk of early death.

Education may affect health through various factors, wrote Frakt, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management. For example, more schooling, by providing skills for analyzing information and tackling complex problems, could enable people to better navigate the modern health system. Education could also lead to higher-paying jobs, higher social status, and greater wealth, all of which have been linked with better health.

Some of the research cited by Frakt involved co-authors from Harvard Chan School, including David Cutler, David Williams, and Lisa Berkman.

Read the New York Times article: Does Your Education Level Affect Your Health?

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Education key to boosting Americans’ health, longevity (Harvard Chan School news)