Why handwashing for kids is a vital habit?

Good habits formed in kids make all the difference.

Wasn’t it until pandemic we all took handwashing like a normal thing and not knowing its impact in the real life? But after this situation we all have been profound to know that handwashing is the one of most important daily routine that has to be built in our kids’ regular life not because there might be any virus but our basic health issues start right from our hands.

Handwashing for kids is a good habit that helps them sustain good health and excellent manner. It is vital that a parent understands the significance of hand hygiene and develop a routine to practice this with their children from early childhood. Once they adapt this custom, it will help them forever to maintain strong immunity. Otherwise, there are so many diseases caused by not washing hands that can affect your children, such as:

Noroviruses

Norovirus causes viral gastroenteritis in persons of all ages. It spreads when people don’t wash their hands, and it’s especially concerning because it may spread swiftly among big groups of people in close quarters.

Nosocomial infections

MRSA and E. coli are two of the most frequent nosocomial illnesses spread by germs and bacteria on our hands.

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A causes severe symptoms such as liver issues, jaundice, abdominal pain, fever, and exhaustion. It’s usually spread through food that’s been tainted by persons preparing it who haven’t cleaned their hands after using the restroom or are eating without handwashing.

Airborne illnesses

Respiratory infections are typically conveyed through droplets inhaled, sneezed, or coughed into the air by an infected person. While sneezing and coughing contribute to the transmission of illness, improper handwashing methods are also a significant factor.

Now you can see more clearly the importance of washing hands for kids.

Washing your hands — either with soap and water or hand sanitiser – may appear to be a minor task, but it can significantly influence your good health.

Michael Sebert, M.D., Medical Director for Infection Prevention and Control at Children’s HealthSM and Associate Professor at UT Southwestern, says, “Hand cleanliness is a crucial lifetime practice for remaining healthy.” “It’s a technique to lower our risk of getting infections like colds, flu, other respiratory viruses, and gastrointestinal illnesses.”

According to the CDC, Handwashing can protect one out of every three young children who have diarrhoea and one out of every five young children who gets pneumonia.

Hand hygiene helps you avoid contracting germs, enabling you to avoid transferring them to others, especially those more prone to disease.

If you think we all wash our hands daily, what is the proper way of washing hands? To resolve this dilemma below, we have stated NHS recommended 7 steps of hand hygiene that enlight you about protecting your children from germs & harmful diseases:

First Step: Soak your hands and work up a good lather with liquid soap. The water should be between 35 and 45 degrees Celsius.

Second Step: Cleanse your skin together in a circular manner, palm to palm. Rotate in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction.

Third Step: Rub the back of your left hand with your right palm as your fingers are linked through the other hand. Then switch.

Four Step: Make clasped hands by linking your fingers together, facing each other, rub your palms and fingers together after that.

Fifth Step: With your right hand and left hand under, cup your fingers together, rub the backs of your fingers on your palms with your fingers interlocked. Then switch.

Sixth Step: Rotate your left thumb while enclosing your right hand around it, then exchange.

Seventh Step: Circularly roll your fingers over your left palm, then switch.

After that, thoroughly rinse with warm running water and dry with a clean, disposable paper towel. The most hygienic approach to drying your hands is paper towels; however, automatic hand dryers can also be utilized in some places. If you use then avoid touching any part of the hand dryer with your clean hands to avoid transmitting bacteria back onto them. Similarly, never dry your hands with a reused towel since they might harbour deadly levels of bacteria that migrate back onto your hands.

At Home, preschool & daycare, “Why wash hands for 20 seconds” rules should apply to generate a healthy habit of handwashing for kids. Only good practice can make a difference in your child’s life, whether hand hygiene, sleeping routine, or food habits. Individually they appear to have some minor regular habits that parent thought would come on schedule as time pass, but this is a big mistake. Do you ever notice that your childhood habits never change even now as an adult than how your child’s habits will regulate automatically?

At Footprints, as your parenting partner, we try to develop good habits in your children, whether taste bud development, sleeping schedule or regular handwashing, etc. by simply following our program at home, parents can integrate these future building habits in their children.