The issue of health inequality has widely concerned by the international community, which has become one of the main topics of research in the socioeconomic field. Differences in socioeconomic status are fundamental factors contributing to health inequalities, of which education plays a key role. Education and health are important components of human capital and key variables for social development and individual well-being, and they are also closely related. Different groups with different levels of education have different levels of health, resulting in a health education gradient. In order to explore whether there is an education gradient in health in China, and clarify the impact of education on health and its mechanism, this paper constructs a Log-binomial Regression Model based on Grossman’ s health demand theory and group-based differences theory of education’s impact on health. By analyzing the data of Chinese General Social Survey from 2010 to 2018, it explores the education gradient in health and its influence mechanism of health in China from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. The results are supported by several robustness tests. The study finds that education has a positive effect on people’s health, with gender, age, urban-rural and regional differences, especially in the stage of junior middle school education. On this basis, the influence mechanism of education on health is further explored. The results show that education mainly affects the health of individuals through material and non-material intermediary pathways such as income level, lifestyle and social interaction. Therefore, it is of great significance to increase all-round investment in education, especially in basic education, which can improve people’s income levels, healthy lifestyles, and social and family support, producing great significance to improve the health level and health inequalities of the whole people.
