THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STRUCTURED TEACHING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL AND PERSONAL HYGIENE AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

A study regarding poor hygiene and inadequate sanitary conditions play major roles in the increased burden of communicable diseases. The study evaluated the knowledge, attitude, practice of hygiene among rural school children in Ethiopia; about 669 students were in grades 1-6, and they were interviewed by trained staff. Data consisted of hygiene and hand washing practices, knowledge about sanitation, personal hygiene characteristics. Approximately 52% of students were having adequate knowledge of hygiene, only 36.2% reported using soap, and of the 76.7% of students who reported hand washing after defecation, only 14.8% reported actually following this practice. Study findings underscore the need for more hand washing and hygiene education in schools. The first concept in personal hygiene is the positive and negative emotions that affect physical health, such as feeling pride in being neat and clean or feeling frustration in using hygiene tools. The second concept is personal hygiene practices such as hand washing, oral hygiene etc. The third concept is the fact that germs can lead to common diseases such as the flu or a cold. Nurses can use various techniques to help kids remember these.