Higher IQ in childhood ‘linked to lower risk of early death’

Children with higher IQs are more likely to live longer lives, according to a new study from the University of Edinburgh.

This research analysed data from 33,536 men and 32,229 women born in Scotland in 1936 who took a validated childhood intelligence test at age 11, and whose cause of death up to December 2015 could be verified.

It was found that higher childhood intelligence was associated with a lower risk of death until age 79, with better test scores linked to a 28 percent reduced risk of death from respiratory disease, a 25 percent lower coronary heart disease deaths, and a 24 percent reduction in the likelihood of a fatal stroke.

Deaths from injury, smoking-related cancers, digestive disease and dementia were also shown to be less prevalent among children who scored highly on the IQ test.

It was noted that previous studies had also shown that individuals with higher IQs tended to live longer, but these studies were largely based on data from subjects followed up only to middle adulthood.

The researchers added: "It remains to be seen if this is the full story or if IQ signals something deeper, and possibly genetic, in its relation to longevity."

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