Ensuring your child's health throughout the school year involves more than just packing nutritious lunches and making sure they get enough sleep. One crucial aspect of their well-being is hand hygiene. With the constant interaction and shared spaces in classrooms and playgrounds, teaching children proper hand hygiene is vital to preventing the spread of illnesses. We spoke with Dr. Joseph Dela Paz, a family medicine physician at Doctor Anywhere, to provide parents with expert advice on this important topic.
Why Hand Hygiene is Essential
Dr. Joseph emphasizes the importance of hand hygiene for schoolchildren, stating, “Proper hand hygiene is definitely important for schoolchildren in preventing a lot of communicable diseases. It is particularly important since our children are vulnerable to these diseases and can be easily passed around.”
Neglecting hand hygiene can expose children to numerous health risks. According to Dr. Joseph, “Poor hand hygiene puts our children at great risk of acquiring an array of infectious illnesses—from respiratory infections like common colds, upper respiratory tract infections, and viral or bacterial pneumonia to gastrointestinal problems like acute gastroenteritis, amoebiasis, or dysentery. It can also lead to eye infections like conjunctivitis or blepharitis.”
Critical Times for Handwashing
Knowing when to wash hands is as crucial as knowing how. Dr. Joseph highlights the critical times when children should wash their hands at school:
When they arrive at school
Before and after meals
After going to the toilet or bathroom
After outdoor play
After coughing, sneezing, or blowing their nose
Proper Handwashing Technique
Teaching children the proper technique for handwashing can be both educational and fun. Dr. Joseph recommends a simple five-step process: Wet, bubble, scrub, rinse, and dry. He suggests, “Hand washing can be fun. Why not make it a fun song or a dance? Or even a guessing game?”
Children often learn by example, so it’s important for parents to model good hand hygiene practices. Dr. Joseph advises, “Make sure you’re washing your hands well and often yourself so they can watch and learn. When they start to learn what to do, let them know when it is most important to do it: after the bathroom, before eating, after touching pets, after playing outdoors, and after coughing, sneezing, or blowing their nose.”
He emphasizes the use of soap, stating, “It is important to teach our children to use soap when washing their hands; just water is not enough. Also, it is important to dry their hands using a clean towel or napkin.”
Alternatives to Handwashing
In situations where soap and water are not available, alternatives can be useful. However, Dr. Joseph cautions, “Using sanitizers, alcohol, or wet wipes cannot be a substitute for handwashing with soap and running water. They can be used as an alternative, especially in places where soap and water are not readily accessible. In preparing hand sanitizers, it is advisable that they should contain at least 60% alcohol.”
Instilling good hand hygiene habits in children is a vital step in safeguarding their health, especially as they return to school. For more expert advice on your child’s health, you can consult accredited doctors online, such as general practitioners, family medicine doctors, and pediatricians, through the Doctor Anywhere app. Our doctors are available on-demand or by appointment, even on weekends and holidays.
Download the Doctor Anywhere app for free on the App Store or Google Play Store to create an account for your child. In the absence of an ID, please use their birth certificate and the "Registry number" as their ID number. To learn more about kid’s health issues and the support services that are available, visit https://www.doctoranywhere.ph/children-health.
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Sources:
1. Dr. Dela Paz, Joseph Willie. Interviewed on 9 July 2024.
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