JOIN US New research by Pamela Herd, associate professor of public affairs and sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US, shows that better performance in high school plays a critical role in better health throughout life.
“How well you do in school matters,” says Herd about the findings, reports the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour.
“We already know it matters for things like your work and your earnings, but this proves it also matters for your health,” adds Herd, according to a Wisconsin release. The conclusion is based on data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study involving more than 10,000 graduates of Wisconsin’s high school class of 1957 during the last 53 years.
Researchers have gone back to the class members six times since they graduated, asking questions about work, life and now, as the class ages, health.
Herd’s findings showed that the higher a study participant’s high school rank was, the lower the probability that participant experienced worsening health between 1992 and 2003, when the class members neared retirement age.