Due to rising pollution over the years, Los Angeles can be counted among the places with bad air quality. But a newly conducted study gave the details on how much the area has been changed in terms of quality of air, especially for its youngest residents.

Researchers associated with the study found that children in recent years breathed cleaner air and also had stronger lungs as compared to people studied two decades ago.

Research group said that improvement in the air quality is due to a drastic drop in the pollution in the Los Angeles basin, including the surrounding areas.

This was made possible after the air quality regulators made some strict rules regarding emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks.

The team of researchers after going through the findings suggested that other cities with polluted air can also see a boost in their health if they opt for some air clean-up efforts.

Lead researcher Jim Gauderman, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, suggested that pollutants like particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide are usually found higher in cities.

Reducing those pollutants can lead to improvement in health conditions of children living in those areas under the urban environment.

It has been informed that smog for the first time was documented in Los Angeles during World War II when a thick haze reduced visibility to three city blocks and caused irritation in eyes of residents of those areas.

Los Angeles has struggled with air pollution since several decades. As LA's population grew, so did the number of vehicles on the road. And by 1970s, unhealthy air was recorded more than 200 days a year.

The air recorded was so bad that it blotted out the San Gabriel Mountains. Children were also advised by health advisories not to play outside.