Journal Article

The Education Effect on Population Health: A Reassessment

Baker, David P., Collins, John, Leon, Juan, Movit, Marcela, Smith Greenaway, Emily G.

2011

Overview

Demographic research frequently reports consistent and significant associations between formal educational attainment and a range of health risks such as smoking, drug abuse, and accidents, as well as the contraction of many diseases, and health outcomes such as mortality—almost all indicating the same conclusion: better-educated individuals are healthier and live longer. Despite the substantial reporting of a robust education effect, there is inadequate appreciation of its independent influence and role as a causal agent. To address the effect of education on health in general, three contributions are provided: 1) a macro-level summary of the dimensions of the worldwide educational revolution and a reassessment of its causal role in the health of individuals and in the demographic health transition are carried out; 2) a meta-analysis of methodologically sophisticated studies of the effect of educational attainment on all-cause mortality is conducted to establish the independence and robustness of the education effect on health; and 3) a schoolingcognition hypothesis about the influence of education as a powerful determinant of health is developed in light of new multidisciplinary cognitive research.

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd,Wiley Subscription Services,Wiley-Blackwell,The Population Council, Inc
• Subject: Accidents / Adult education / Appreciation / Attainment / Causal analysis / Causality / Clinical outcomes / Cognition / Demographic indicators / Demographics / Demography / Disease - economics / Disease - ethnology / Disease - history / Disease - psychology / Drug Abuse / Education / Educational Attainment / Educational Status / Epidemiology / Formal education / Health / Health behavior / Health Education / Health inequality / Health Problems / Health risks / Health status / Higher education / History, 20th Century / History, 21st Century / Level of education / Meta-analysis / Methodology (Data Collection) / Mortality / Mortality - ethnology / Mortality - history / Mortality Rates / Population Dynamics - history / Population education / Population health / Public health / Public Health - economics / Public Health - education / Public Health - history / Public Health - legislation & jurisprudence / Reduction (Phonological or Phonetic) / Reviews / Risk assessment / Robustness / Smoking / Sociodemographic Factors / Socioeconomic status / Substance abuse