The Association between School Term Length and Cardiovascular Risk Factors among Adults in the U.S.

Sze Liu, Harvard School of Public Health
Maria Glymour, Harvard School of Public Health

Previous social science research has shown an additional year of schooling is casually linked with better health in adult life. However, there is limited research on whether variation in annual days of instruction is associated with any health benefits. This study quantified the association between school term length and systolic and diastolic blood pressure and body mass index. Using data from the first two waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey merged with historical information on race and state-specific school term length, we found that an additional ten days of instruction was associated with a 1% decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure for black females while the impact on white females and black males was negligible. There was some indication that additional days of instruction were associated with an increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and BMI for white males.