Most kids get six to 10 colds a year, and kids in daycare tend to get even more. On average, adolescents and adults get colds about two to four times annually.

That all adds up. In the U.S. every year, people come down with about 1 billion colds.

If you want to help your child dodge upper respiratory infections (URIs), research on kids ages 4 to 7 reveals that the more exercise they get, the less likely they are to become infected.

A study published in the journal Pediatric Research found that over a six week stretch, 47 kids who were getting more than 9,300 steps daily experienced a total of 724 days of URI symptoms. But 47 kids getting only around 5,600 steps daily experienced 947 days of respiratory symptoms.

And for every 1,000-step increase in daily activity up to 10,000 a day, kids experienced four fewer days of symptoms. So 10,000 steps a day versus 6,000 means at least 16 fewer days of upper respiratory symptoms a year (assuming almost all colds appear during this window in winter). 

The U.K. health service says preschoolers should get at least 180 minutes of activity daily with 60 minutes of moderate to intense play.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that kids need to be active all day long.

Help youngsters avoid URIs by making sure they have plenty of playtime.