TEL AVIV, Israel, Jun 5, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- An Israeli researcher tired
of seeing her children sick says if teachers are taught the importance of hand
washing, more children wash their hands.
Dr. Laura Rosen of Tel Aviv University's School of Public Health said her
preliminary study of 40 pre-schools and kindergartens had shown that teachers
were often unaware of the direct connection between hand washing and health.
Rosen's study, published in Health Education Research, found pre-lunch hand
washing in participating schools increased from 25 percent to about 60 percent.
"There was no connection being made between hygiene and illness,so basic hygiene
wasn't being taught," Rosen said in a statement. "You need to work on attitude.
We ran seminars for teachers and taught them about the transmission of
diseases."
Rosen used puppet shows, songs, games and petri dish demonstrations to teacher
the benefits of hand washing. However, she also ensured schools had the tools
they needed to put theory into practice.
"If you have a population that knows how important it is to wash hands, but
doesn't have soap, they aren't in a very good situation." she said
Rosen said she decided to tackle the issue when she became frustrated with the
frequent illnesses of her own young children.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2009 by United Press International