CHICAGO — Disadvantaged teens might get more than an academic boost by attending top-notch high schools — their health might also benefit, a study suggests.
Risky behavior including binge-drinking, unsafe sex and use of hard drugs was less common among these kids, compared with peers who went to mostly worse schools. The teens were otherwise similar, from low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods who applied to top public charter schools that admit students based on a lottery system.
The researchers compared behavior in almost 1,000 students in 10th through 12th grade who were admitted to the high-performing schools and those who went elsewhere. Overall, 36 percent of the selected students engaged in at least one of 11 risky behaviors, compared with 42 percent of the other teens.
The study doesn’t prove that the schools made the difference. Still, lead author Dr. Michael Wong said the results echo findings in less rigorously designed research and fit with the assumption that “better education will lead to better health.” Wong is an internist and researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Results were published online Monday in Pediatrics. The Associated Press
