CHAPTER ONE
1.0.
BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
1.1.
INTRODUCTION
School children spend about one third of their time either in schools or doing
school assignments, during which time they may be exposed to a variety of
physical, social and psychological harm. Schools provide an ideal opportunity
to detect poor hygiene practice by children. The water supply and sanitation
conditions of schools have become a public health concern in recent years. A
Ministry of Health report in 2007 about school hygiene in Nigeria indicated
that the majority of surveyed primary schools did not have access to drinking
water sources or adequate sanitation facilities for handwashing and excreta
disposal. School dropouts are observed among female students due to a lack of
latrines with facilities for menstrual hygiene. The report also found that the
hygiene knowledge of the prevention of communicable diseases was poorly
understood by students. Globally, communicable diseases are prevalent among
school age children and the exposure to variety of pathogens causing
preventable diseases in school population is inevitable. Underlying factors
mainly rests on poor personal hygiene and inadequate sanitation practices
leading to school absenteeism and life-threatening illnesses among children.
The situation is worse in low- and middle-income countries due to inadequate
health care facilities leading to compromised health status of school children.
Among communicable diseases, respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases are
regarded as the deadliest killers of young children. Incidence of diarrheal
disease in the initial years has been linked with impaired cognitive
performance in the later childhood. In addition, in developing countries
intestinal helminthic infection is a commonly cited problem among school age
children. Furthermore, oral health cavity infections are also commonly found in
school going children worldwide. Frequent attacks of infection predispose young
children to malnutrition and can form a vicious circle and retard children’s
physical and cognitive development. Moreover, the contextual factors such as
poor socio-economic environment further deteriorate the health status of school
children especially in low- and middle-income countries. Other studies in
Nigeria among school children indicate that upper respiratory infections, skin
infections, abdominal discomfort, eye infections, gastro-enteritis (diarrhea)
and tonsillitis are the commonest ailments for school clinic visits. Helminthic
infections such as ascariasis and hookworm are prevalent because of the
prevailing poor personal hygiene and waste management in the school and home
environment. The provision of school hygiene and sanitation ensures the rights
of students to acceptable hygiene practices, safe water supply, latrines and a
healthy school environment in general. The impact could have further beneficial
effects, for example:
·
Healthy
environments facilitate more effective learning.
·
Opportunities
for students to gain life-long positive hygiene behaviors.
·
Opportunities
for increased school enrolment, retention and attendance for girls
Basic
hygiene refers to practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread
of diseases. It involves regular washing of body, washing the hands when
necessary, cutting of nails, washing one’s clothing, keeping the hair neat and
brushing of teeth. School children are particularly vulnerable to neglect of
basic personal hygiene (Enahoro and Orokj, 2006). The consequences in terms of
morbidity and mortality are also more severe in them compared to adults. The
increased burden of communicable diseases among school children due to poor
personal hygiene practices and inadequate sanitary conditions remains concern
on the public health agenda in developing countries. Poor knowledge, practice
and attitudes towards personal hygiene play major roles in the high incidence
of communicable diseases and therefore has negative consequences for the
child’s long-term overall development.
The hands are probably the most important route for transmission of infection
in the home and community, as they often have indirect contact with the mouth,
nose and conjunction (Urwhttp://www.ifh-hollehygiene.org). They also came in
contact with food and water that is consumed. It has been revealed that there
is a strong and consistent caused link between poor hand hygiene and
gastrointestinal infection (WHO, 2002) certain respiratory infections have also
been linked to poor personal hygiene practices. Good hand washing and other
hygienic practices encouraged through health education has been reported to
communicable diseases in school, children (Long-Shan, 2000). Understanding the
level of knowledge and practices related to basic personal hygiene among school
children in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa.
1.2.
STATEMENT
OF PROBLEM
Globally, the high mortality and morbidity due to communicable diseases among
school age children has been attributed to their neglect of poor personal
hygiene. Children need to be taught and guided by adults to be able to adopt
certain behaviors as regards their health and well-being. To effectively
address the issue of communicable disease among school children, parents,
teachers, and other stake holders must work out modalities to take and
encourage children to adopt good hygiene practice.
However, it has been observed that little or nothing is been done to inculcate
these practices among school children hence increase in the rate of
contact/spread of these communicable diseases and worse mortality from these
diseases. Therefore, if adequate measures are put in place, communicable
disease can be reduced to its barest minimum among school children.
1.3.
PURPOSE
OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to ascertain the knowledge and practice of basic
personal hygiene among school children in the Karu Local Government Area of
Nasarawa State and to examine the relationship between hygienic environment and
teaching and learning of pupils
With
the above background, this study was undertaken with the following objectives:
1. To
find out the current knowledge and practices regarding personal hygiene among
primary school children
2. To
identify any misconception among them regarding the maintenance of personal
hygiene
3. To
identify knowledge and misconceptions regarding health-related conditions
4. To
educate and promote good personal hygiene behavior among them
1.4.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.
Do the
pupils have knowledge of environmental hygiene?
2.
Are
there proper hygienic practices among pupils?
3.
Are
there measures put in place to help children maintain good hygiene
practice?
4.
Does
poor environmental hygiene affect pupils learning?
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It is expected that this work will prompt the school authorities and the
various parents-teachers association to collaborate to identify key areas of
health needs among school children and institute appropriate health
interventions. It is also expected to improve the knowledge base of classroom
teachers on basic hygiene practices and the need for them to ensure adequate
practice by the children.
1.6. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research is expected to cover selected primary school in Karu Local
Government Area of Nasarawa State.
1.7.
DEFINITION
OF TERMS
Hygiene:
is the practice through which people maintain
or promote good health. Making themselves and their surroundings clean,
cleaning and – when needed – disinfecting surfaces, hands, units, surroundings
and items of personal use in order to break the chain of infection, all
contribute to hygiene. Other hygiene measures are for instance keeping a
certain distance from ill people.
Cleaning: is the mechanical or chemical removal of
dirt and soil from the human body, an object or an area. Normally, cleaning
with soap or detergent followed by rinsing with water is adequate to remove
visible dirt and allergens. By removing dirt the number of germs will be
considerably reduced. Hence, cleaning is a major step towards hygiene.
Disinfection: in situations where there is high risk of
transmission of germs (e.g. when there is someone who is infected or is
vulnerable to infection), the targeted use of a disinfectant helps prevent
infections. Disinfectants are products that contain or generate biocidal active
substances with antimicrobial properties and that communicate this function to
end users. These products prevent the spread of infection by
deactivating/killing harmful organisms.