Personal Hygiene

Learning objective

I am learning about the importance of good personal hygiene. 

What do you think personal hygiene means?

How can you keep good personal hygiene?

What is personal hygiene?

Personal Hygiene is how we look after our bodies. Keeping ourselves clean and tidy makes us feel better about ourselves and also keeps us, and those around us, healthier!

Personal hygiene includes...

• Washing hands
• Cleaning teeth
•  Wearing clean clothes
• Showering/bathing regularly
• Changing underwear daily
• Minimising the spread of germs where we can!
• Cutting nails
• Wearing deodorant/antiperspirant 

Cleaning teeth

It is recommended that we brush our teeth twice a day, for around 2 minutes. We should visit the dentist every 6 months for a check up.

Brushing properly removes plaque which can cause cavities, tooth ache, gum disease and even our teeth falling out!

It also gives us lovely fresh breath!

How long should you clean your teeth for?

It is generally recommended that you clean your teeth how many times a day?

1. Once
2. Twice
3. Three times
4. Five times

It is recommended that you should you visit the dentist how often?

1. Every month
2. Every 3 months
3. Every 6 months
4. Once a year

Washing hands

Washing our hands is one of the simplest ways we can keep ourselves and those around us healthy.

Think about everything your hands touch in a day… 

...door handles, stair rails, toilet flushers...

Think about how many other people have touched these things too!

Handwashing

When we touch things we pick up germs, which we can then spread by rubbing our eyes, putting things into our mouths, etc.

We can even spread them to our friends and family without realising. Some germs can make us unwell, spreading everything from a cold to stomach bugs 

(and much more).

Washing our hands with clean, warm water and soap will kill off the germs and keep our hands clean.

When should we wash our hands?

When should we wash our hands?

• When they are dirty;
• Before we eat or help prepare food;
• After petting animals;
• After using the toilet;
• After we sneeze, cough or blow our noses;
• Before and after visiting someone who is unwell

Cutting nails

It’s best to keep your nails neatly trimmed and clean. 

And try not to bite them!

Showering/bathing

As we get older and start to experience puberty it becomes important to shower and bathe more regularly. 

Both boys and girls bodies change during puberty, but one of the main changes that we all experience is that our sweat glands grow and start to produce more sweat. There is nothing wrong with sweat - your body needs it to cool down. 

However, it will begin to smell when it mixes with bacteria lurking on your skin. If you don’t wash you’’ get something known as body odour (BO for short)

Controlling Body Odour (BO)

• Shower daily using soap/shower gel
• Use antiperspirant deodorant
• Wear clean clothes every day
  
• Change your underwear daily!
  

Name one way you can help reduce/stop body odour.

Hormones

During puberty, hormones kick in - different hormones for boys and girls - but they can both cause oily skin and more sweat. If we don’t wash regularly we are more likely to get spots and have BO (body odour).

Remember, sweat doesn’t smell…it is stale sweat that produces the body odour. You can keep yourself fresh by remembering to use deodorants but this is not a substitute for showers or baths!

Hair

Different types of hair needs caring for in different ways. Some hair types need washing regularly whereas others don't need washing as much. Your parents will know what is the best hair care routine for your hair type.

When we wash our hair, shampoo can be used to clean our scalp. To help prevent tangles, some people also choose to use conditioner. 

There are millions of products that we can use in our hair such as gels, mousse, hairspray or oils.

More hair growth

Another effect of puberty is the arrival of hair on other parts of our bodies. 

Girls notice hair beginning to grow around their pubic area and under their arms between the ages of 8 and 14. The hair on their legs may thicken. 

Boys will also notice more hair beginning to grow. Mainly around the base of their penis and under their arms. Leg hair also thickens. As they get older, facial hair will grow and hair continues to grow into adulthood, on their chest and backs, etc. 

Where do girls start growing har during puberty?

1. Arms, legs, underarm and pubic area
2. Chest
3. Face
4. Toes

Where do boys grow hair during puberty?

1. Face
2. Chest
3. Underarm and in pubic areas
4. All of the above

Clean clothes

It is really important to wear clean clothes. If we wore the same thing all the time they would get dirty and start to smell. Even if it is the most fashionable thing you own…it will still need to be washed! They need to be washed with detergent in a washing machine and then hung out to dry on a washing line or clothes horse.

You don’t need to wear fresh, clean clothes every day, but if, for example, you wear the same trousers to school for a few days - make sure that you take them off as soon as you get home and let them air out for a while!

Underwear

Underwear is different. Underwear covers the parts which can get the most sweaty.

This includes socks! Our feet are covered in sweat glands and can get sweaty and smelly as we’re on our feet a lot.

Remember to change your socks and underwear every day! And put the dirty ones in the dirty washing basket - don’t leave them on your bedroom floor. Yuck!

How often should you change your underwear?
(Socks and pants)

1. Every hour
2. Every day
3. Every week
4. Every month

Spreading germs

Germs and bacteria spread. It’s a fact and we can’t stop it, but we can try to minimise their spread. Following the tissue rules and washing our hands are really easy ways to minimise the germs we spread. 

How else can we prevent (stop) germs from being spread?

Stopping the spread of germs

• Washing our hands before we eat or if we have been outside
• Covering our mouths when we cough or sneeze.
•  Not sharing water bottles, etc.
• Not coming to school if you have a stomach bug and have been sick or have diarrhoea. 
• Try not to touch our eyes, nose and mouth too much.

Keeping our noses clean

Have you ever had a really runny nose? Or has it been really blocked and you feel like you can’t breathe through it? 

It’s a horrible feeling, but we have all been there!

The only acceptable way of dealing with this is a tissue.

Sniffing, picking, wiping with sleeves… Yuck!

Bin your tissue!

Bring a small packet of tissues with you to school. If you have a really bad cold, they can even stay at your desk! However...

• dirty tissues must be binned or flushed down a toilet straight away;
• don’t share used tissues with others;
• wash your hands after using a tissue.

Good personal hygiene

Poor personal hygiene

What is personal hygiene?

Name as many ways as you can of keeping good personal hygiene

How do you feel about your own personal hygiene?

😒🙁😐🙂😃