London: Good education is the key to staying young and healthy, a study has shown.

In contrast, people who leave school with no qualifications age much quicker, reports express.co.uk.

Scientists made the discovery after looking at the DNA of 450 civil servants aged between 53 and 76. They had widely different CVs, some with no academic background and others with degrees. There was a difference in the chromosomes of those who had studied for A-levels or gone to university.

These people tended to have longer telomeres - the caps on chromosome ends that protect them from damage and were found to be aging more slowly.

Study leader professor Andrew Steptoe, a psychologist at University College London, said, "Education is a marker of social class that people acquire early in life. Our research suggests long-term exposure to the conditions of lower status promotes accelerated cellular aging." IANS