Transgenerational Persistence of Education as a Health Risk: Findings from the Women Physicians' Health Study

Abstract

Objective

: Whereas the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on morbidity and mortality is well known, little is known about its transgenerational persistence.

Methods

: We studied SES and health data from the U.S. Women Physicians' Health Study (WPHS). WPHS studied 4,501 women physicians, a group with relatively homogeneously high income, occupational prestige, and educational attainment.

Results

: In logistic regression models controlling for age and ethnicity, those with better educated mothers ate more fruits and vegetables and were less likely to have a gun in their home; those with better educated fathers were more likely to have a regular physician. There was no significant difference by parents' educational levels in exercise habits, fat consumption, compliance with prevention recommendations, current health status, or history of smoking, hypertension, or dyslipidemia.

Conclusions

: Parents' (especially mothers') educational levels affect their adult children's health habits and outcomes, even if those adult children are physicians. However, at least among physicians, this differential is small after only one generation of improved SES.