An assessment of biological age of males in Poland

Background: Studies carried out in Poland have shown that some important in dices of growth and maturation in children, of the biological well-being du ring adulthood and the rates of premature mortality depend strongly upon th e individual's position on the social scale. Aim: The study considers whether adult males of higher educational status d iffer from their chronological age-matches of lower educational status in b iological age. Subjects and methods: The data of 2800 occupationally active men, aged 25-6 5 from the 1994/1995 Polish Health Surveys were used. Twenty-two different measures were used. Biological age was assessed by the method of Borkan and Norris (Journal of Gerontology, 35, 177-184, 1980). Results: A comparison of biological age profiles of two groups of males bas ed on their educational status showed that in 13 of the 22 characteristics, better-educated men were biologically younger than their poorer educated p eers (p<0.05). Conclusion: Better education is associated with the slowing down of the pro cess of ageing, probably because it produces a healthier life-style.