A sharper mind may mean a longer life, a study out of the UK suggests. Researchers found that mental prowess during childhood predicted longevity among more than 2,200 older adults who took IQ tests as 11-year-olds in 1932.

The investigators tracked down men and women who had taken school IQ tests in Aberdeen, Scotland. They found that the higher the then-elderly adults had scored on their school tests, the lower their odds of dying by age 76.

For example, a woman who had scored 115 on the IQ test was twice as likely as a woman who had recorded an 85 to be alive at the time of the study. Among men with these same scores, those with the higher score were 32% more likely to still be alive.

It is well known that people of lower income face the prospect of poorer health and an earlier death. Income and social status, education and mental ability are all closely related. However, they write, little is known about whether there is a link between IQ and death risk.

In their study, the relationship between childhood IQ and death risk remained after they considered "social factors" such as father's occupation and overcrowding in the childhood home -- a sign, they say, of "social disadvantage."

The researchers looked at IQ in order to add to what is known about the childhood factors that are associated with health later in life.

For example, a growing body of research suggests that adult health is influenced by the earliest stages of life. Low birth weight, for instance, has been linked in some studies to increased risk of high blood pressure, kidney disease and heart disease in adulthood.

Many factors -- from genetics to lifestyle habits -- may explain the association between childhood IQ and death risk. An 11-year-old's IQ may reflect prenatal development, childhood nutrition and other early factors.

And a child with a higher IQ may be more likely to take up exercise and healthful eating habits, and shun smoking, drinking and other health risks.

British Medical Journal April 7, 2001;322:819-822