ISSN: 2578-5001
Authors: Mohammed Elmadani, Elham Elamin, Abdelhakam G Tamomh* and Peter Twum
The importance of school health has acknowledged across countries since the beginning of the 20th century. Good personal hygiene now forms part of the primary health prevention strategy, and this is effective in reducing morbidity and mortality in children. The current study conducted to assess the personal hygiene practices among primary school children. An observational descriptive cross-sectional facility-based study conducted among 276 pupils during the period from January to February 2016, they were interviewed using a designed pre-tested questionnaire. The study showed that (55.4%) of school’s children keeping their hair clean, (76.1%) brushing their teeth daily, (60.1%) pruning their nails, (66.3%) taking daily bath, (77.2%) wearing clean clothes, (47.1%) taking bathing after playing, and all children among study population wearing shoes while coming to school. The boys showed better hand hygiene practices before eating rather than the girls (39.3% & 37.6%), respectively. Statistically, no significant association observed between practices of personal hygiene among study group and educational level of their mothers, and the statistical association observed between (cleaning hair, trimming nails, washing hands after using the toilet) and gender variable (P< 0.05). The results of the current study revealed that a large number of primary school pupils had good personal hygiene. It was also evident that good personal hygiene practices manifested in girls than in boy’s ones.
Keywords: Personal Hygiene; School Children; Khartoum State; Sudan
