Disturbing findings have come out of the United States this month that indicate those adults in the US who have the lowest levels of education are also the same people who have the poorest health. The new study showed that out of US adults between the ages of 25 and 74, fewer than half are in what was termed ‘very good health’ and that the level of health a person can, according to these statistics, expect depends much on their level of academic achievement. The study was conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America, a group that seeks to encourage US leaders and citizens alike to invest greater funding and effort into approving health care in the nation. The study revealed that adults who had not gotten their high school diploma were 2 and a half times more likely to not be in very good health in comparison with those who had graduated from college. Among those who did finish their high school education, they were twice as likely, if they did not graduate from college, to be in a state of health that was considered below the level of very good. Critics point out that it is difficult to know what the group terms as very good since this is a relative terms and expressed a desire to see more detailed empirical evidence. However, even those critics admitted that it could very well be the case since a lack of education and poor health habits would be logical.
Some critics went on to say that part of the reason many adults in the US do not finish their high school education is that they are expelled or simply removed from public education by their own choice. Those students who struggle to fit into the academic setting often experience problems later, as well, as they have trouble participating in the work force.
