Does your child always seem to have a cold or a runny nose? Or maybe he’s not very “resourceful”? It’s in your best interest to encourage him to be more active and play outside, according to new studies.
- For the WHO, children from 3 to 4 years old should have at least 180 min of physical activity of various types and intensity, including 60 min of moderate to sustained activity, over a 24-hour day.
- To limit physical inactivity, ANSES recommends avoiding exposure to screens before the age of 2 and limiting it to less than one hour per day between the ages of 2 and 5.
Television, computer, smartphone, tablet, game console… screens are very present in the lives of children. The Covid-19 pandemic and the confinements are far from having slowed down this trend. However, two recent scientific studies highlight several advantages for the little ones of having an outward-looking life.
Children who play sports have fewer respiratory diseases
Colds, coughs, flu, asthma… children are prime targets for respiratory illnesses. Works, published on January 24, 2023 in the journal Pediatric Researchshow that young people who engage in regular physical activity are less likely to have this type of disorder.
For this study, the researchers recorded the symptoms and physical activity of 104 Polish children aged 4 to 7 between 2018 and 2019. Their movements were measured using a sensor placed in a bracelet.
Scientists found that smaller participants who had higher activity levels also had fewer symptoms of respiratory infection over the following six weeks.
For example, the 47 children who took an average of 5,668 steps per day during the first two weeks of the research, together combined 947 days with respiratory problems during the following six weeks. The number was only 724 for the 47 girls and boys who walked 9,368 steps daily.
The team estimates that for each daily increase of 1,000 steps, the young participants had 4.1 fewer sick days. In addition, children who exercised three or more hours per week appeared to show fewer signs of respiratory infection than those who did not.
The authors of the study suggest that exercise can reduce inflammatory cytokines and improve the functioning of immune cells.
Playing outside reduces the harmful effects of screens
According to Japanese research to be published in March in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, two-year-olds who spend a lot of time in front of a screen, have less good everyday life skills (dressing, brushing their teeth, showering, putting toys away, etc.) at 4 years old.
Scientists who followed 885 children aged 18 months to 4 years, noticed that some of the negative effects of screen time were reduced in those who played outside more.
“Although communication and daily living skills were worse in 4-year-olds who had more screen time at age 2, outdoor play time had very different effects on these two neurodevelopmental outcomes. “We were surprised to find that outdoor play didn’t really change the negative effects of screen time on communication, but did have an effect on daily living skills.”explains Kenji J. Tsuchiya, professor at the University of Osaka and lead author of the article.
The researchers estimated that an increase in outdoor play time could decrease the observed negative effects of screens on daily living skills by almost 20%. Moreover, if the capacities of socialization was not significantly related to the number of hours spent in front of the TV or a tablet, it was better in 4-year-old children who had spent more time playing outside at the age of 2 years and 8 months.
Tomoko Nishimura, lead author of the study, added: “We also found that screen time is not related to social outcomes, and that even if screen time is relatively high, encouraging more outdoor play time could help keep kids healthy. health and develop appropriately.”