CHICAGO — Disadvantaged teens may get more than an academic boost by attending top-notch high schools — their health may also benefit, a study suggests.
Risky health behavior including binge-drinking, unsafe sex, and use of hard drugs was less common among these youths, compared with peers who went to mostly worse schools. The teens were otherwise similar, all from low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods who applied to top public charter schools that admit students based on a lottery system.
Results were published online Monday in Pediatrics.
The researchers compared behavior in almost 1,000 youths in 10th through 12th grades who were admitted to the high-performing schools and in those who went elsewhere. Overall, 36 percent of the selected youths 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 and it has limitations that weaken the results, including a large number of students who refused to participate.