How city life affects your health and happiness

Education

Perhaps one of the more surprising ways that cities affect us is by making us less clever. Comparing the results of students taking exams with levels of air pollution on the day of exams shows that performances are worse when pollution is highest. The performance of students completing the same exams in the same cities on different days was compared to the levels of pollution on those days. Even small differences in pollution levels were found to have an effect on educational outcomes.

This has a real effect on outcomes later in life. A study in Israel found that high levels of fine particle pollution in the air on the day of high school exit exams had a negative effect on wages in adulthood.

Weight

Airborne pollution has also been linked to obesity. While the exact mechanism is still debated, and research has largely been conducted in animals, it is thought that pollution alters the body’s metabolism. This is perhaps due to inflammation in the lungs caused by particles of pollution, which triggers a stress response. Hormones released as part of this can also reduce the effectiveness of insulin, raising blood sugar levels. This response is intended to make sure we have a kick of energy at the ready in stressful situations, but, if we are constantly in a state of slight stress caused by air pollution, then it can have long-term effects on how able we are to process sugar – a first step towards diabetes.