Research links lower levels of air pollution to improved lung health in children

A study of southern Californian communities has shown that long-term reductions of air pollution can benefit the lung health of children.

The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, aimed to find out whether different measures taken to improve air quality in California were having a positive effect on lung health.

Three groups of children, aged between 11 and 15 during the years 1994–1998, 1997–2001, and 2007–2011, were involved in the study. In total, 2,120 children took part. Each of the children had a lung function test every year to see how changes in air pollution levels affected the development of their lungs.

The researchers found that, over the 13 years spanned by the groups of children in the study, a number of different lung health measurements improved.

Read the journal article.

Find out more about the Healthy Lungs for Life campaign, which is raising awareness of the importance of clean air.