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The better educated you are, the healthier your kids maybe -- but researchers don't know why.
By Camille Chatterjee published January 1, 2000 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016
The better educated you are, the better your kids' health may be,
though the reason isn't quite clear.
Dawn Wilson, Ph.D., a health psychologist at Virginia Commonwealth
University, asked 77 teenagers to play a video game while she measured
their resulting changes in blood pressure -- high blood pressure reactivity
is a risk factor for heart disease. Of teens from poorer areas and
Iow-income households, those whose parents were better educated displayed
lower blood pressure reactivity.
Wilson isn't yet certain how education may protect children, though
a study found that more learned parents are more likely to make
themselves available for discussing life events than those with less
schooling. In any case, she says, "the study reinforces that education is
important."
