Being a top student in high school has obvious benefits, mainly with regard to getting into a good college. But being a top high school performer might have more lasting effects: it leads to better health all throughout life, a new study suggests. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin tracked more than 10,000 high school graduates through six rounds of interviews, one every decade, Time reports.
The higher students ranked in their class, the more likely they were to report excellent health in their early 60s. "If you look at two people with high school degrees, the person with better grades is healthier later in life," says one of the researchers. The scientists don't know exactly what causes the link, but speculate that the same conscientiousness that leads kids to get good grades leads adults to take care of themselves.
(More high school stories.)