Study suggests link between good schools, health

Disadvantaged teens may get more than an academic boost by attending top-notch high schools: Their health may also benefit, a study suggests.

Risky health behavior including binge-drinking, unsafe sex, and use of hard drugs was less common among disadvantaged students at good schools than among peers at mostly worse schools. The teens were otherwise similar, all applicants from low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods to top public charter schools that admit students by lottery.

The researchers compared behavior in almost 1,000 such pupils in 10th through 12th grade. Overall, 36 percent at the high-level schools engaged in at least one of 11 risky behaviors, compared with 42 percent of teens at the poorer-performing schools.

The study doesn't prove the schools made the difference, and it has limitations that weaken the results, including a large number of students who refused to participate. Still, lead author Michael Wong, a UCLA internist, said the results echoed findings in less rigorously designed research and fit with the assumption that "better education will lead to better health." - AP