CDC: Richer, better educated, less sick

Richer and better educated people have lower rates of many chronic diseases compared to those with fewer years of education and lower income, officials say. "Health, United States, 2011," the government's annual comprehensive report on Americans' health prepared by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, has a special section on socioeconomic status and health. "In 2007 to 2010, women age 25 and older with less than a bachelor's degree were more likely to be obese -- 39 percent to 43 percent -- than those with a bachelor's degree or higher at 25 percent. Obesity prevalence among adult males did not vary consistently with level of education," the report said. "Between 1996 to 2006, the gap in life expectancy at age 25 between those with less than a high school education and those with a bachelor's degree or higher increased by 1.9 years for men and 2.8 years for women." On average in 2006, 25-year-old men without a high school diploma had a life expectancy 9.3 years less than those with a bachelor's degree or higher, while women without a high school diploma had a life expectancy 8.6 years less than those with a bachelor's degree or higher, the CDC report said.