Education makes you healthier

There is a large and persistent association between education and
health. In this paper, we review what is known about this link. We
first document the facts about the relationship between education and
health. The education ‘gradient’ is found for both health behaviors and
health status, though the former does not fully explain the latter. The
effect of education increases with increasing years of education, with
no evidence of a sheepskin effect. Nor are there differences between
blacks and whites, or men and women. Gradients in behavior are biggest
at young ages, and decline after age 50 or 60. We then consider
differing reasons why education might be related to health. The obvious
economic explanations – education is related to income or occupational
choice – explain only a part of the education effect. We suggest that
increasing levels of education lead to different thinking and
decision-making patterns. The monetary value of the return to education
in terms of health is perhaps half of the return to education on
earnings [emphasis added], so policies that impact educational attainment could [sic] have a
large effect on population health.

Here is the paper.  Here is my previous post on the value of education.