23 aprile 2018
SCUOLA FREUD – ISTITUTO FREUD
Tecnico Tecnologico Informatico – Tecnico Economico – Liceo Economico Sociale
HAVE YOU STUDIED? YOU WILL LIVE MORE
According to a modern study, it is not per capita income, as previously thought, but serious education, that participates in better health and, consequently, longevity.
The most incident factors that could contribute to our living healthier and longer? So far we reflected was a good income and the consequent improvement in the standard of living. But now, a study by the team of researchers at the Vienna University of Economics and Business tells us that this would not be the case at all: a person's level of education is a much more determinative factor in improving health and, consequently, increasing life expectancy.
Taking a step back. In 1975, the American sociologist Samuel Preston developed a curve (later named Preston, in his honor) that plotted per capita income in connection with life expectancy: his curve confessed how income had the greatest influence on health and longevity, and this was made clear in its day with greater access and better health care. In 1985, however, the two scholars John and Pat Caldwell suggested in their research that the lower death rate was linked to better education for women.
To see eye-to-eye, the two authors of the new study, Wolfgang Lutz and Endale Kebede, used data arriving from 174 countries over a time period from 1970 to 2015. The researchers then plotted a diagram relating life expectancy to the average years of schooling of the population. The resulting curve, much more linear than the previous ones, clearly suggested that education is a better predictor of health and longevity.
Higher education, the researchers explain, leads to broader knowledge, which, in turn, influences people's adoption of better health behaviors, and thus broader life expectancy. “This paper debunks the belief that income and medical interventions are the main drivers of health,” Lutz explains, adding that their findings further support the call for improved access to education.High school tourism address
The apparent link between health and income found by Preston, the researchers add, can be explained by the fact that better education leads to both happier health and higher income. “Our results are important for global development,” Lutz says, pointing out that funding for quality education should be the priority worldwide.
