Students celebrate during their graduation ceremony. (credit: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBS NEWS) - Higher education could help people in more ways besides finding a job. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found educated Americans are less likely to be obese and suffer from chronic diseases, compared to those with less education.

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released its 35th annual report on health in the United States on Wednesday, which compiled data from government and private sector resources on Americans’ health habits.

This year’s edition spotlighted the role socioeconomic status has in determining a person’s health. It found between 2007 and 2010, heads of households with a bachelor’s degree or more were less likely to have obese children, with rates around 11 percent for boys and 7 percent for girls. Meanwhile, in households where the head holds a high school education or less, 24 percent of boys and 22 percent of girls were obese.

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