A photo in a graduation album will tell you how long you will live: scientists analyzed the fates of thousands of teenagers and were struck by the conclusion

Researchers analyzed the fates of thousands of teenagers who graduated from high school in the United States in the late 1950s to take a closer look at how appearance may be related to the risk of death. The results show that the least attractive people have a slightly higher risk of living a relatively shorter life.

The researchers analyzed the fates of thousands of teenagers who graduated from high school in the United States in the late 1950s. According to experts, features that are considered attractive can transmit information about a person's health, Science Alert writes.

Previous studies have found a link between the human immune system and beauty ratings. However, now scientists have found that there is scant evidence that people who are generally considered attractive are more likely to see a deep old age.

"Little is known about the link between facial attractiveness and longevity. But attractiveness may convey underlying health and systematically structure important processes of social stratification," write sociologist Connor Sheehan of Arizona State University and economist Daniel Hamermesh of the University of Texas at Austin in an article published on the Science Direct website.

The researchers asked an independent panel to rate the attractiveness of 8386 photos of high school graduates in 1957 as part of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. This survey was then used to divide people into six different categories, ranked from most to least attractive.

Using the National Death Index, it was then compared to deaths that occurred in the group by 2022, by which time they were around 80 years old. Almost 43 percent of the people in the sample had died by the end of the follow-up period.

Those in the lowest tier of attractiveness were about 16.8 percent more likely to die than those in the middle of the rankings. However, the difference in mortality rates between the middle four positions and those rated as the most attractive individuals was not significant.

"Overall, we found that those whose facial attractiveness was rated the lowest had a higher lifetime risk of mortality compared to those who were rated medium or high. Importantly, we found a small advantage in longevity for those who scored high compared to average attractiveness," the experts explain.

Analyzing factors such as education and earnings somewhat reduced the significance of the differences, with health being the most influential variable. This means that in some cases, poor health and, as a result, poor appearance may play a role.

The data presented here is not enough to prove direct causation, and is limited in that it is for one geographic area, and the researchers acknowledge that the causes of the relationship are not certain. Still, it's an interesting set of findings when it comes to public health concerns. Scientists are eager to see more research into deeper connections on this topic so that life expectancy can be measured objectively.

"Sociologists should investigate how attractiveness can influence other processes that may contribute to its relationship with health and longevity," the authors of the study write.

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