Physically active children less likely to get upper respiratory tract infections

Preschool children who had high daily step counts and played sports had less days with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections than kids with less daily steps and no sport involvement, according to a study in Pediatric Research.

“The recently observed displacement from a physically active lifestyle and the refrainment from a natural outdoor environment in all segments of the human population, even among the youngest of children, has led to a sedentary indoor lifestyle (due to excessive use of modern technology) and may be reflected in chronic diseases that are endemic to our culture,” Katarzyna Ostrzyek-Przedziecka, of the department of pediatric cardiology and general pediatrics at Medical University of Warsaw, and colleagues wrote. “Parents of preschool children should encourage their wards to engage in physical activity every day, creating opportunities and possibilities for physical activity involving entire families, especially if their children do not regularly participate in sports activities.”

In a single population cross-sectional study, Ostrzyek-Przedziecka and colleagues studied 104 children (mean age, 5.3 years; 55 girls) aged 4 to 7 years in the Warsaw city region to find out if physical activity level was related to upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs).

Researchers evaluated URTI symptoms each day for 60 days using parental reports from the Polish version of the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory System Survey for Kids. To assess physical activity, children wore the Vivofit fitness band (Garmin) that tracked daily steps, activity intensity and sleep duration 24 hours a day for 40 days, and parents/guardians reported whether their child was involved in sports.

During the 60-day observation period, the median total number of days with URTI symptoms was 26 (range, 6-58), which researchers noted was typical for the season and age group.

Overall, researchers observed that greater physical activity, based on more steps on healthy days, was inversely associated with the number of days with URTI symptoms. Specifically, an increase of 1,000 steps per day led to a 4.1-day reduction in the number of days with URTI symptoms.

Also, average daily step count from healthy days accounted for 43.5% (P < .001) of the total number of days with URTI symptoms.

Further, compared with children who did not participate in a sport regularly, children who spent 3 hours or more per week playing a sport had less URTIs, although this association only accounted for 4% (P < .05) of the variance in days with URTI symptoms.

For children who did not participate in sports, daily steps determined the severity of URTI symptoms, but this was not found in children who regularly played sports.

Additionally, researchers considered the average daily number of steps during the first “run-in” period on days when children had no URTI symptoms (7,518 steps) to understand the lag effect between activity levels and URTI risk.

In this analysis, the active group (n = 47) had a mean number of 9,368 steps in this 14-day period, whereas the less active group (n = 47) had a mean number of 5,668 steps. Overall, the active group had less total URTI days over the next 46 days (cumulative value of person-days with infections, 724 vs. 947), demonstrating an association between baseline physical activity level and URTI.

Lastly, sleep duration, siblings, sex, vaccinations or exposure to pet hair or smoking were not related to the number of URTI days, according to researchers.

“We desire that our study contributes to changing the habits of parents and pediatricians in many countries who, to protect children presenting with recurrent URTIs, suggest decreasing physical activity,” Ostrzyek-Przedziecka and colleagues wrote. “However, this would require confirmatory evidence through a well-designed study with an intervention in a group of such children.”

Reference:

• Save children from common cold with higher physical activity. https://www.newswise.com/articles/save-children-from-common-cold-with-higher-physical-activity. Published Jan. 24, 2023. Accessed Jan. 25, 2023.