Maintaining good personal hygiene is essential as it protects you and your kids from catching or spreading infections and germs. Additionally, it boosts self-esteem and has a strong influence on relationship. Many parents are wondering about how to teach kids regarding personal hygiene and health routine. If you are one of them, we are here to assist. You can help your kids to develop their personal hygiene and health by reading this article. Let’s understand more about it.

Personal hygiene and health

Personal hygiene can be defined as the way of looking after your own body and health. This routine involves brushing teeth, showering, washing your hands and face etc. You are exposed to millions of germs daily. These germs might cling on your body for a long time and occasionally could even make you ill. The high chance of illness is brought on by poor self-care which can be decreased by maintaining proper personal hygiene and health routine. Your self-confidence will increase as a result of practising proper hygiene, and you’ll also be more involved and successful in all aspects of your life.

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Tips for teaching personal hygiene and health to your kids

If you don’t know how to direct your kids to follow personal hygiene and health, don’t worry we are here to help. Here are some of the tips to teach your kids about personal hygiene and health:

Brushing teeth

In kids, brushing is essential for maintaining personal hygiene and health to prevent cavities as well as bad breath. You can motivate your kids to maintain a good oral hygiene by following the below steps,

• Encourage your kid to brush twice (morning and night)
• Give them tiny soft bristle toothbrushes.
• Till 1 year of age, carefully massage your kid’s gums with a clean soft towel.
• Once the first tooth erupts, cleanse its surface with water and a baby toothbrush.
• Allow your child to brush himself with toothpaste at 2 years
• Ensure that they are cleaning the corners of their mouth
• Make sure they are properly flossing and rinsing after brushing their teeth.
• Teach them to rinse their mouth after eating anything.

Reward them with a colourful star or heart stickers when they did everything right, which can encourage them to brush their teeth.

Also check, Worst foods for child’s teeth

Hand washing

Frequent hand washing can minimise the possibility of infections. The simplest tactic to follow this strategy is to demonstrate proper hand washing to your kids. Explain the correct way of washing their hands. Make sure they follow each step exactly.

• Make use of the clean water to wash your hands
• Rinse your hands
• Cleanse your hands with hand wash soaps
• Create foam by rubbing
• Cleans the nails and area in between your fingers for 30 seconds
• Rinse your hands until foam goes away
• Dry your hands with tissue or towel

You can sing a song while hand washing which can make this activity fun.

Toilet hygiene

Obviously, millions of germs are present in our toilets that will cause frequent illness in our kids. The toilet should always be kept tidy for that purpose. Additionally, show your children how to maintain proper bathroom hygiene. They are able to maintain their health by doing this.

• Tell your kid how to wash or wipe after using toilet
• Show them how to flush
• Make sure they are washing their hands after using toilet

Clap for them when they follow everything properly.

Also check, How to potty train your kid

Shower hygiene

Showering is very important to maintain the personal hygiene and health of a kid. 

• Motivate your kid to bathe twice a day.
• Instruct them to clean their feet, armpits and legs
• Tell them to clean their private parts.
• Make sure they always have a gentle bath with light soap.
• They should wash their hair twice a week to get rid of dirt and oil.
• Assist your kid to use shampoo and make sure they wash properly
• Instruct them not to share personal items with others.

Play their favourite songs while bathing and sing together to make it fun.

Nail hygiene

Nails grow each day. Additionally, kids frequently play outside in unclean areas, their nails tend to pick up more dirt. Kids also tend to bite their nails which can cause illness. You must therefore instruct your children to cut their nails once a week. Tell them interesting stories to distract them while cutting the nails.

Food hygiene

A chance of food poisoning will increase when uncleaned veggies or fruits are consumed. It is necessary to clean the fruits and vegetables before eating. 

• Open the clean water tap in the sink
• Put the vegetables or fruits into it
• Show them how to rinse it
• Gently rub the outer surface
• Allow them to take out the washed fruits and veggies to dry it.

Sneezing hygiene

Despite your best efforts, your kids could feel sick at any time. Your children may occasionally catch the common cold, the flu, or seasonal allergies. They will begin to cough or sneeze. Here is checklist to do to enhance their healing and stop them from infecting others:

• Educate your children to follow the basic manners for sneezing and coughing like covering their mouth and nose while sneezing.
•  Advise your children to use a handkerchief or piece of tissue paper rather than using their hands.

Also check, Remedies for Dust allergy

Cleaning the house

It is important to keep our surroundings clean. You can follow simple ideas to make them clean the house.

• Educate your children to take away their plates and wash them with soap after eating
• As they get older, tell them to organise their clothes or books
• Make sure they are cleaning their room regularly

Also check, Social emotional development in kids

Things to avoid 

• Avoid criticising your kids when they did something wrong
• Don’t give up on them, be patient
• Don’t compare your kids with others which will make them feel inferior
• Allow them to learn at their own pace and give them more time.
• Encourage your children for their good behaviour instead of punishing them

Also check, Tips for Personality development

HEALThy FOODS FOR KIDS DAILY NUTRITION:

Nutritious health foods for kids is important to maintain their physical as well as mental health, stabilizes energy, build immunity and prepares the body against diseases. Here are list of essential nutrients required for kid’s health:

PROTEIN:

Protein makes up building blocks of organs, muscles, skin and hormones. Our body needs protein to maintain and repair tissues. Meanwhile, children need it for proper growth in their early years too. Fish, poultry, nuts (almond, peanut, cashew, hazelnut), beans, are best choices. A balanced protein rich breakfast is always great for children to start their day. It helps them stay full for longer ideas and hence protein is a must for proper child nutrition.

Also check, How to add protein to your diet?

GOOD FATS:

Health foods for kids must limit fats that are high in saturated fat and avoid trans-fat. Nuts, avocado, seeds (such as pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, sunflower seeds) and few oils are the healthiest sources of unsaturated fat. It is good for eye, bones and mental health of child, helps to boost brain and nervous system development, and strengthen the immune system. Encourage your child to eat all these good fats that support kid’s nutrition. (Foods and remedies for cough?)

CALCIUM:

It is really important to get strong bones and teeth and we get chance to build them only once – throughout childhood and adolescence. Children who get enough amount of calcium in childhood start their adult lives with the strongest bones possible. Mostly calcium is stored in bones and teeth where it supports their structure and hardness, but the body also needs calcium for muscles to move and for nerves to carry messages between the brain and every body part. Calcium is predominately found in milk and milk based products like cheese. And is also found in smaller quantities in some nuts and seeds. (Should kids take whey protein?) Moreover, few herbs such as shallaki also contains calcium.

CARBOHYDRATES:

Fibre, starches and sugar are very essential food for healthy diet that body turns into glucose to give energy to function. Carbs that take time to digest and have fibre in them are complex carbs which are found in naturally existing fruits, vegetables, almonds, cashews, hazelnut, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds and whole grains.

VITAMIN AND MINERALS:

Vitamins and minerals help us to grow, to form bones, muscles, for eyesight, for skin and organs and most importantly help us to fight against infections by building immunity. Deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals can lead to severe issues related to health. The best way to ensure that your child is getting enough vitamins and minerals for proper growth and development is to provide them with five food groups (fruit and vegetable, complex carbs, dairy, protein and fat).

AYURVEDIC HERBS:

Ayurveda has the potential to not only correct imbalances in our children, but also to set them on an enduring path toward optimal health and well-being. Thus, ayurvedic herbs must be included in the list of health foods for kids. Ayurvedic herbs such as ashwagandha, mulethi, brahmi, shallaki and turmeric are great for kids development. Overall, these herbs support immunity, bone strength, brain development and overall growth.

ANTIOXIDANTS:

Antioxidants are compounds produced in your body or naturally found in some foods that scavenge or neutralize the effects of cell damage by potentially harmful molecules known as free radicals. Fortunately eating a diet rich in antioxidants or antioxidant rich foods help to fight oxidative stress and reduce the risk of many chronic diseases. Turmeric, Vitamin E, cocoa, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Selenium, Beta carotene, Lycopene, Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Manganese, Polyphenols show great antioxidant properties.

Also check, Brain development foods for children

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