Insights in Public Health: The Importance of Considering Educational Inequity and Health Literacy to Understand Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities

摘要

Education is a critical determinant of health, and a core building block for numerous other social factors that are themselves highly associated with health, such as occupation, income, and self-efficacy.1–3 However, the United States (US) educational system generally and the state of Hawai‘i's educational system specifically do not provide their opportunities equally. Many racial/ethnic minority groups, on average, receive fewer years of schooling and gain fewer educational advantages from schooling compared to whites.5–6 Both inequality in educational quantity and quality are highly relevant to health, although only the first issue is typically considered in depth in most health-related research.