For adults, it's easy not to think much about personal hygiene. A daily shower, hand washing before fixing dinner and teeth brushing before bed--it's mostly habit. For children, however, they need to be taught how to implement personal hygiene tasks and be encouraged to do them regularly. Keeping clean is not just about looking and smelling presentable, it's a health issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control, hand sanitizer that was used in 16 schools, during one study, reduced absenteeism nearly 20 percent among 6,000 students. They also report statistics from the World Health Organization stating that hand washing alone could reduce deaths from diarrheal diseases by up to 50 percent.
Step 1
Make hygiene fun. Whether it's about baths, hand washing, tooth brushing or nose blowing, add an element of fun. With baths, it might be the inclusion of several bath toys. With hand washing, it might be colorful, funny-shaped bars of soap. For tooth brushing, it might be an electric, light-up toothbrush. For nose blowing, it might be making funny noises or pretending to shoot a basket when throwing the tissue in the trash.
Step 2
Help your child with their personal hygiene. For young children, they do not have the fine motor skills to brush or floss their teeth by themselves. Parents need to do it or at least put their hand on top of their child's hand to complete the task. Until they're able to do it themselves, parents should also help with bathing including faces, necks and bottoms. For nails, parents need to clip toenails and fingernails until their child has the skills to do it by herself. With nose blowing, very young children need parents to wipe and remind the child to blow. As they get older, a helping hand or verbal reminder may be enough.
Step 3
Encourage children to spend the appropriate amount of time on personal hygiene activities. For tooth brushing, set a timer or buy a toothbrush with a light or sound to remind your child how long to brush. For hand washing, teach your child to sing the "Happy Birthday" song while they wash, in order to spend enough time in the cleaning process.
Step 4
Set an example. Be sure that your child sees you washing your hands regularly, before food preparation, after using the toilet, before and after tending to the baby, after blowing your nose and after working outside. Let them watch you brush and floss your teeth. Talk to them about why keeping clean is keeping healthy.
Things You'll Need
- Soap
- Hand sanitizer
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Nail clippers or manicure scissors
