Topline
Attending a private U.K. high school or a university with higher status is tied to better cognitive function, heart health and BMI decades after graduation, according to a new study published Tuesday, and researchers believe more disposable income and physical activity advantages may play a role.
Key Facts
Around 7% of the study’s participants (all of whom were in the U.K.) attended a private high school, less than 4% attended a grammar school—what the researchers consider “selective without fees”—and 89% of participants went to a state funded school, while 7% attended a higher status university, which are highly regarded Russell Group schools like the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.
The researchers found those who attended a private high school had better cardiometabolic and cognitive outcomes than those who went to state funded schools, and limited evidence suggests the private school group also had lower BMIs and better blood pressures, according to a paper published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
There were no major health differences found between the private school group and the grammar school group except for BMI, where private school attendance was associated with a lower BMI.
Higher-status university attendance was associated with lower BMI and better cognitive performance compared to participants who attended “normal-status” universities; having no degree was associated with the worst health outcomes, except for better grip strength and balance.
The researchers believe a couple reasons may explain the study’s results: Students who attend private high schools typically have greater physical activity than their peers, and participants who attended higher-status schools had more disposable income, so they could focus on their health more.
The study included over 8,500 participants between the ages of 46 and 48, who were a part of the 1970 British Cohort Study followed by researchers since they were born in 1970, and were selected and interviewed about their mid-life health between 2016 and 2018.
A previous study done on the British cohort found those who attended private high schools and high-status universities had lower BMI and better self-reported health scores than their counterparts.
Key Background
Similar results are visible in the United States: Attending U.S. colleges with selective admission rates was associated with slightly higher cognitive performance later in life, a Research on Aging study found. Adolescents who attend U.S. schools with advantages like smaller student-to-teacher ratios and teachers with better salaries have better cognitive skills between the ages of 65 and 72 than those who attend schools with less or no advantages, according to a 2020 study. Higher economic status, social position and more access to “highly-resourced” elementary and middle schools are all reasons the researchers found for these health outcomes. Researchers also discovered higher education helps people find higher paying jobs with less safety hazards, so this may factor into the better health outcomes.
Tangent
Receiving any type of education after high school has also been linked to better health outcomes worldwide. The higher a person’s level of education, the lower their risk of premature death, according to a January global study published in the Lancet. A person’s risk of death dropped by an average of 2% with every additional year of education they attained, the study found.
Surprising Fact
Education level has also been linked to specific health conditions. People whose highest level of education was middle or elementary school had a 52% higher risk of dying from coronary heart disease than those who attended graduate school, according to a 2019 study. Diabetes risk may also decrease with more education: 13.1% of adults in the U.S. who have diabetes have less than a high school education, compared to 9.1% who graduated high school and 6.9% with more than a high school education. Black and white people with 12 or less years of education have between a 60% and 180% higher cancer mortality rate versus those with 16 or more years of education, a study by the American Cancer Society found.
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