Scientists have found that higher levels of physical activity measured by steps taken per day and hours spent playing sports reduced young children's susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs.)

A secondary finding of note was that the study also took into account whether the house had smokers, pet hair, which vaccines the children had received, whether they had siblings, and what their sleep patterns were like, none of which had any association with susceptibility to URTIs in either direction.

We've all heard from our parents or grandparents about how much they played outside compared to the young ones today. Indeed they often make it seem like the doors to their house were locked between the end of school and dinner time.

Scientists from Poland wanted to see what kinds of exposure and activities reduce children's susceptibility to URTIs, and their results make our grandparents sound all the wiser.

104 Polish children aged 4-7 from Warsaw had their physical activity monitored with pedometers between the fall-winter school year of 2018 and 2019. Their parents filled out scientific questionnaires regarding various details mentioned above, as well as the perception of URTI symptoms such as coughing or a runny nose.

The authors found that as the average daily number of steps taken by children throughout the study period increased by 1,000, the number of days that they experienced symptoms of URTIs decreased by an average of 4.1 days.

Additionally, children participating in three or more hours of sport per week tended to experience fewer days with respiratory tract infection symptoms than those not regularly participating in sports.

"Children who achieved a higher number of steps in the first days of observation had fewer days with symptoms of infection in the following days, than the less-active children," the authors wrote.

The authors did not identify associations between URTI symptoms and sleep duration, siblings, vaccinations, or exposure to pet hair or smoking, despite many of these being hypothesized as reducing or increasing the incidence of URTIs.

While the study seems an obvious one, especially if you ask your grandparents, the increased prevalence of screens in households decreases the time spent in physical activity and increases the likelihood that children aged 4-7, who are already at a high risk for URTIs, will suffer from infections of increased duration and severity, and at greater frequency.

The authors recommend instilling the values of physical activity or sport from an early age, and by participating in physical activity, if possible, as a family.

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