Teach kids personal hygiene early

The saying ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ is not just restricted to Christians and other religious people-it applies to all of us.

In order to enjoy good health, we all need to maintain a certain standard of personal hygiene. Personal hygiene may be described as the principle of maintaining cleanliness and grooming of the external body. As such, it is simply the practice or principles of cleanliness in general.

Teaching the basics of proper personal hygiene is important for keeping children healthy and clean.

The only way for your child to learn is teach them. So like many other things, personal hygiene is something they will not learn on their own.

Personal hygiene is a principle that has been practiced by humans for thousands of years and as such is not something new.

Psychologists say personal hygiene is a life-long need and should be taught at a very early age once you see your child is coordinated and has good physical statue without any complications while taking care of themselves.

Usually, children do what they have been told to do, and they do what they see others do, meaning you as a parent or someone else they come into contact with; and this could be a relative, teacher, or friend.

Once your children continue to grow older and understand the purpose and need for good personal hygiene it is like a feeling of accomplishment for one aspect of parenting.

Personal hygiene involves a lot of things. A simple gesture such as wiping one's feet on the doormat is good hygiene teaching; especially if your child has just come from outdoors playing.

Oral care, washing, toilet hygiene and hair care should be taught as part of everyday routines. Bathing time for your child can provide an ideal opportunity for spending quality time together, and for teaching about the importance of cleanliness.

The whole body from head to toe needs personal attention regularly and should not be excluded on a daily basis. Teach these good habits to your children, and be thankful you were taught on personal hygiene yourself at some time in your lifespan.

If you wait too long before teaching personal hygiene, it may too late for your children to appreciate its importance.

Whether we believe it or not, and in more ways than one, your children are a reflection of you as a parent. They may either resemble you or simply exhibit some of your characteristics, so the more your children see you do the things beneficial for yourself, the more they would want to emulate you as long as it is helpful and beneficial for their betterment.

After all, your children should be an asset to you and not a liability.

Just what are the benefits of upholding good standards of personal hygiene?

Various experts with a keen interest in the matter say maintaining a high level of personal hygiene will help to increase self-esteem and confidence.

They also state that poor personal hygiene and failure to keep up an acceptable standard of hygiene can have many implications. Not only is there an increased risk of getting an infection or illness, but there are many social and psychological aspects that could be affected.

Poor personal hygiene, in relation to preventing the spread of disease is paramount in preventing epidemic or even pandemic outbreaks. To engage in some very basic measures could help prevent many coughs and influenza from being passed from person to person.

Social aspects can be affected, as many people would rather alienate themselves from someone who has bad personal hygiene than to tell them how they could improve. If you are honest enough with yourself, I am sure you can recall a few times when you had to hold your breath to avoid inhaling someone's body odour.

Poor personal hygiene can have significant implications on the success of job applications or the chance of promotion; no company wants to be represented by someone who does not appear to be able to look after themselves. So if you cannot look after yourself, how can you expect any reputable organisation to trust you with important aspects of their business?

We can never be perfect parents no matter how hard we try but we can at least try our best in giving our children appropriate guidance to enable them grow up to be responsible adults.

The following are some tips by Katherine Lee, a parenting expert. I found them useful in encouraging personal hygiene and thought you might as well.

Teach proper hand washing. The most important health and hygiene habit to teach your child is to wash his hands, especially after coming home from school or playing outside and before eating.

Hand washing is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to prevent the spread of germs and illnesses. Make sure your child uses soap and lathers for at least 15 seconds before rinsing.

Teach him to cover sneezes and coughs. Germs can travel far and wide on a sneeze or a cough. Get your child into the habit of covering his mouth and nose when he sneezes or coughs.

Remind him not to touch her eyes or mouth or to prick her nose. Germs can easily enter the body through the mucous membranes of the eyes and through the nose and mouth.

And probably the most important aspect of all, food hygiene is very closely associated with personal hygiene. Poor personal cleansing can have a very significant effect on the start and spread of many illnesses through contact with nutritional consumables some that can be potentially lethal.

Everybody has their own habits and standards that they have been taught or that they have learnt from others. And personal hygiene is as it says, personal so always remember that it is essentially the promotion and continuation of good health.




Source : www.zambiapost.com