A Sociological Study of Growth in the Economic, Health Fitness and Education Improvement

Abstract

This paper reviews recent research on the relationship between education and health fitness in poor countries. Across generations, the health fitness and education of parents—particularly mothers-boost both outcomes in their children. Multiple causal pathways link the two domains, across different phases of an individual’s lifecycle and across generations in a family. Within an individual, childhood health fitness enhances schooling outcomes, longevity incentivizes human capital investment, and education improves adult health fitness.