A study conducted in Norway revealed that education in general prolongs the human lifespan and helps improve health for individuals of different ages, ethnicities, geographical distributions, and demographic and social backgrounds.
A research team from the Norwegian University of Health and Technology found that the risk of death decreases by 2% for each school year spent learning. This means that spending 6 years in elementary education extends an individual’s average lifespan by 13%, and the likelihood of death decreases by 25% after graduating from secondary education and decreases by 34% after completing 18 years of education.
The research team compared the impact of education on health risks such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and unhealthy eating habits and found that the benefits of education for 18 years equate to consuming ideal amounts of healthy foods such as vegetables.
On the other hand, not attending school at all is equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes a day for 10 years or consuming 5 alcoholic beverages daily.
Torgeir Aandal, Director of the World Health Inequality Research Centre, stated that “education is important in itself, not only because of its health benefits but our ability to quantify the health benefits of education is a tangible development.”
The study collected data from 59 countries, including over 10,000 pieces of information from more than 600 research papers.
Claire Henson, a member of the study team and a researcher at the University of Washington School of Medicine, affirmed that “closing the education gap means closing the gap in mortality rates.”
She explained, “To reduce inequality in mortality rates, it is essential to invest in areas that enhance opportunities in education,” emphasizing that this investment will have a positive impact on human health around the world.
