While parents may push their children to get good grades throughout their academic careers in order to succeed in collegiate and professional stages, a new study is suggesting that exemplary grades could also lead to better health.

According to researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, higher academic performance during high school years could lead to an overall healthier life. The researchers examined more than 10,000 graduates and surveyed them about their educational attainment, psychological characteristics, high school grades and personalities.

The study concluded that the higher someone's academic performance ranked in high school, the less chance they experienced at having poor health between 1992 and 2003.

"[Because the study looks at a person's grades], that tells us something about the consequences of emphasizing test scores over academic performance, for example, and further speaks to the importance of schooling," said lead researcher Pamela Heard.