An Unexpected Defense Against Colds....

If it feels like kids are always sniffling and coughing, or bringing home a new virus every other week… that’s because they are!

Those relentless upper respiratory infections account for over 20 million days of missed work and school, plus 10 million doctor visits every year.

If you have kids, or spend time around them, you already know: their immune systems are still figuring things out… and they love to share everything.

Here's an unexpected defense

Interesting new research found that young children who are more active and take more steps each day have fewer sick days from colds.

Researchers studied kids aged 4-7 for 60 days, controlling for sleep duration, vaccination status, number of siblings, common allergens, and a host of other factors.

What they found was striking:

• For every additional 1,000 steps per day, kids had 4.1 fewer days with cold symptoms.

• On healthy days, step count predicted 43.5% of how many sick-day symptoms a child would have later.

• Daily steps were linked to fewer and milder symptoms.

• The typical child had 26 days of symptoms during the 60-day season.

Kids who consistently took more daily steps had less severe symptoms when they did get sick.

Why would movement help? More activity improves circulation, supports better sleep, keeps stress hormones in check, and generally gives the immune system more of what it needs to function well.

Given the average child in this age group had 26 symptomatic days, shaving off even a fraction of those days--and making the remaining ones less miserable--is a huge win for the whole family.

Interestingly, being in a sport didn’t make any difference.

Reduced cold symptoms were related tothe average daily steps, not structured sports.

This suggests the immune system responds best to consistent, baseline movement.

The Prevention Prescription

Being active, even in small, non-structured ways undoubtedly helps kids stay healthier.

Playtime, walking, running around outside, dancing in the living room...anything that adds steps counts.

If you want your household to live through winter with fewer tissues and less complaining, here are a few simple ways to encourage those extra 1,000 steps:

• Take a 10–15 minute walk after school

• Make movement part of play (tag, scooters, dance breaks, bike rides)

• If your kid is already in a sport, encourage movement on the off-days

• For little ones: count steps at home (“Let’s see if we can hit 500 before dinner!”)

It’s a good reminder for adults, too.

Our immune systems respond to movement the same way!

Makes me wonder, though......what about all those kids on e-bikes and motorized scooters that they "ride".... without moving? 🤔