Lockdown exercise: why getting outside can boost your wellbeing

Encouraging people to walk has long been on the agenda of public health bodies and air pollution campaigners, but it took a national lockdown for many of us to build a habit. There’s hope that it could have a long-term positive impact on both our health and London’s notoriously dirty air. While anecdotal evidence and data collected by organisations such as Breathe London appeared to show a dramatic reduction in air pollution during the first lockdown, a new international study led by University of Birmingham found that while there were significant reductions in urban air pollution levels around the world, these were smaller than expected.