Personal Hygiene Habits: Child-School-Family Relationship

Abstract

Personal hygiene is a fundamental way of protecting oneself from infectious diseases. Hand hygiene, which plays a major role in transmission, is especially crucial in this respect. Schoolage children, who have immature immune systems, are more vulnerable to infections. Moreover, their low level of hygiene awareness makes schools conducive to the spread of infectious diseases and poses a serious public health challenge. One of the essential steps that can be taken to prevent and reduce the incidence of infectious diseases is to ensure hygiene standards in schools as well as hygiene education. Many studies have reported positive outcomes of hygiene education given to both students and academic-administrative staff. In our country, since the early years of the Republic, health services in schools have been implemented and regulated in this context. Besides this education and regulations, it is essential to provide children with an environment where they can practice these skills at school. Nowadays, it is
acknowledged that efforts are made to ensure and maintain hygiene standards in schools. However, it is also recognized that there are gaps in these efforts, and it is necessary to increase the inspections of authorized units to address these shortcomings. During the recent COVID19 pandemic period, efforts in this context continued to grow and the awareness and attitudes of school administrations towards hygiene practices were positively influenced.