biostudies-literatureCutler DMNIDA NIH HHSNIA NIH HHS1174-87https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC3982329biostudies-literatureUnknown30(6)The long-standing inverse relationship between education and mortality strengthened substantially at the end of the 20th century. This paper examines the reasons for this increase. We show that behavioral risk factors are not of primary importance. Smoking declined more for the better educated, but not enough to explain the trend. Obesity rose at similar rates across education groups, and control of blood pressure and cholesterol increased fairly uniformly as well. Rather, our results show that the mortality returns to risk factors, and conditional on risk factors, the return to education, have grown over time.Journal of health economicsRising educational gradients in mortality: the role of behavioral risk factors.PMC3982329P01 AG005842K01 DA019485Lange FCutler DMMeara ERichards-Shubik SRuhm CJfalseRising educational gradients in mortality: the role of behavioral risk factors.The long-standing inverse relationship between education and mortality strengthened substantially at the end of the 20th century. This paper examines the reasons for this increase. We show that behavioral risk factors are not of primary importance. Smoking declined more for the better educated, but not enough to explain the trend. Obesity rose at similar rates across education groups, and control of blood pressure and cholesterol increased fairly uniformly as well. Rather, our results show that the mortality returns to risk factors, and conditional on risk factors, the return to education, have grown over time.2011-01-01T00:00:00Z2011 Dec2024-11-08T11:04:12.344Z2019-03-27T00:13:22ZS-EPMC39823292192575410.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.06.009