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Eating healthy, getting regular medical check-ups, exercising and sleeping sufficiently are all behaviors well-known to influence health quality. However, studies suggest one unexpected factor that can predict how long people will live: education.

Education gives people the tools they need to lead fulfilling lives, thrive personally, and contribute to their communities. In addition, education makes it more likely a person can access quality healthcare, find employment that pays a living wage, and live in a safe, non-polluted environment — all factors that affect well-being. In fact, people who live in lower socioeconomic conditions are at greater risk for a host of health issues, including higher rates of disease, mental illness, and premature death.

Access to quality education early in life, high school graduation, and a college education can all provide opportunities for people to shift their socioeconomic status, reducing the likelihood of these negative health outcomes in return. Because of this, understanding how education impacts the health of communities is vital for public health professionals fighting to end health inequity. 

Good health is central to living well. The absence of disease and injury alone does not make people healthy. Healthy people enjoy a combination of physical, mental, and social well-being, three aspects of health that all influence one another.  Physical health refers to the body’s ability to function at its best, resist disease, and recover from illness and injury, while mental health focuses on one’s ability to enjoy life, adapt and respond to setbacks, and manage depression and anxiety.

Social health has to do with the ability to form satisfying personal relationships and interact with others in healthy ways.  Socially healthy people can also adapt to different social situations. They can make new friends when they move into a new neighborhood, communicate with their children’s teachers during parent-teacher conferences. Not surprisingly, social health usually comes out of living in conditions where a person experiences social support either from family, friends, or counselors. Having adequate social support can reduce the Having adequate social support can reduce the negative effects of stress and disease.