P30-31 Health & Hygiene:Page 6 03/12/2009 16:51 Page 30
Health & Hygiene
Also just a couple of weeks ago, doctors
announced that perhaps the daily calorie
Healthy Learning
guidelines are set too low. How is this going to
help the cause of persuading parents and obese
children to cut back on their intakes? Hardly a day
goes by without a new health story in the
headlines, only a few of which actually do any
good at all.
When it comes to promoting good healthy
practises in children – it is a wise idea to keep the
message simple. Many illnesses can be avoided by
a mixture of timely action and good old-fashioned
common sense. Schools can do a lot to help keep
their students healthy by reinforcing key messages,
such as the importance of hand washing, catching
coughs and sneezes in a tissue, healthy eating and
taking regular exercise.
It is in everyone’s interests to keep school
children healthy. The Centre for Disease Control
estimates that the average school child misses
around one week of school a year due to illness,
which equates to approximately 36 million school
days lost every year in the UK. So what can schools
do to help?
“Educational establishments can work with
their washroom services suppliers to create a
campaign to educate children on why they should
wash their hands. Companies like Deb offer
support and advice through marketing materials
and information on hand hygiene,” says Deborah
Freeman at Deb Limited.
“It is estimated that a great number of lost
school days could be reduced if children
washed their hands regularly. Recent studies have
shown that hand washing with soap is by far the
best way to prevent the spread of many illnesses
and good hand hygiene practices adopted by
children would help to prevent the spread of
germs from home to school and back again,”
she adds.
Deb InstantFOAM hand sanitiser kills 99.999%
of common germs in 15 seconds and has been
tested and found to be effective against H1N1
(swine flu virus).
When teaching children about the importance
of healthy practises such as hand washing, it is
helpful to make the lesson entertaining. An
activity such as hand washing can be easily
integrated into school day activities. Deb also
houses its hand-washing products in colourful
dispensers to make they eye-catching and
attractive to youngsters.
T
here was a time when the biggest health Prevention is obviously the key when it comes
scare at school was getting the Rubella jab. to spreading disease, but it is not always possible.
Unfortunately, like so many things, health Mark Dewick, UK Sales Director Metsa Tissue Ltd.
education and provision has become a lot has this advice in the current flu season.
more complicated. We now have swine flu to “Early years schools have always advocated a
contend with and cervical cancer injections for ’stay at home if you are ill’ policy. This is of
teenage girls, not to mention the ongoing course, absolutely valid advice for the current, flu
fight against obesity. aware climate. As we know, in the majority of
Everyone has greater access to information than otherwise healthy people, swine flu is unpleasant –
ever before. We can watch the news, read the but no more so than any other virulent flu
papers or research subjects on the internet. While form,” he says.
this should be a good thing, when it comes to “However, it has been proven that young
discussing children’s health, it can actually lead to children are at a greater risk, so this is the best
more confusion. time to instil and cultivate good hygiene habits
Only a month ago, a teenage girl died shortly around use of tissues. At this time, schools can
after receiving a cervical cancer jab at her school. ensure that there are plenty of tissues around the
Immediately, the batch of vaccine was pulled and classroom and the school generally and then
parents up and down the country flew into ensure that children use them to blow their noses
a panic. It turned out that the poor girl had or ‘catch a cough/sneeze’ and then throw them
serious underlying health issues that undoubtedly away immediately. Certain bins can be designated
led to her death. But how many parents now for such waste and a focus placed around this.
feel 100 per cent about letting their daughters have And likewise, regular, effective hand washing –
the injection? and the importance of hand drying is key.”
30
www.education-today.co.uk December 2009
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