CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the Study

Hygiene  refers  to  conditions  and  practices  that  help  to  maintain  health  and  prevent the spread of diseases (World Health Organization, 2014). According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016) hygiene is an act that can lead to good health and cleanliness such as frequent hand-washing, regular bathing, wearing clean clothes and good practice of environmental hygiene. It is the art of keeping body clean and smelling fresh through proper body hygiene that washes off visible and microscopic dirt and bacteria. Hygiene is a science that deals with the promotion and preservation of health. Park, (2017) defined hygiene as the study and practice of keeping good health especially paying attention to cleanliness with the view  to  preventing diseases  and  promoting health;  thereby,  prolonging life.  Lutans,  (2014) stated that human environmentally related diseases such as malaria typhoid, diarrhea and dysentery are constant threat to life due to unhygienic practices. Personal hygiene is the act

of  keeping  oneself  clean  and  well  groomed.  In  addition  to  its  social  implications,  personal hygiene plays an important role in preventing both the spreading and contracting of diseases. Hygiene is very important for living a healthy life free from diseases. Poor hygiene knowledge, attitude and practices and inadequate sanitary conditions play major roles in the increased  burden  of  communicable  diseases  within  developing  countries  and  therefore  has negative consequences for child‘s long term overall development. Many diseases spreading from virus, bacteria, and protozoa microorganisms can be prevented, if good hygiene is practiced.  Teaching  pupils  the  importance  of  good  hygiene  will  improve  their  health  for  a lifetime (Oyibo, 2012). Personal hygiene which is also referred to as personal care is a public  health  tool  that  is used  for  disease  prevention  and  health  promotion  in  individuals,

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families and communities. Personal hygiene includes the following:  regular washing of the body  (bathing), washing hands when necessary, cutting nails, washing  clothing, washing hair, brushing teeth, keeping feet clean, caring for gum among others (Oyibo, 2012).

According to Postma, Getkate, and Vanwijk, (2014), school pupils are particularly vulnerable to neglect of basic personal hygiene. The consequences in terms of morbidity and mortality are also more severe in them compared to adults. The increased burden of communicable  diseases  among  primary  school  pupils  due  to  poor  knowledge,  attitude  and practices of personal hygiene and inadequate sanitary  conditions remain a concern on the public health agenda in developing countries. The hands are probably the single most important route for transmission of infection in the home and community, as they are often in direct contact with the mouth, nose and conjunctiva of the eyes. They also come in contact with food and water that is consumed. Studies have revealed a strong and consistent causal link between poor hand hygiene and gastrointestinal infection (Ananthakrishnan, Pani, & Nalini,2015).

Amongst all the communicable diseases promoted by poor personal hygiene, helminthic infestation contributes the greatest proportion. Although these helminthes can infect all members of a population, the most vulnerable group are school pupils (WHO, 2016). Long-Shan, ., Bao-Jun, Jin-Xiang, Sen-Hai, & Jack,(2015) observed that good personal hygienic practices encouraged through health education has been reported to be associated with low prevalence of communicable diseases in women aged 20-30 years old. Personal hygienic practices therefore plays an important role in preventing spread of respiratory infections, helminthiasis, skin infections, eye infections food borne diseases, spread of new

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pathogens as in epidemics. Certain respiratory infections (common cold, influenza virus infection.) have also been linked to poor personal hygienic practices (WHO, 2012).

Hygiene practices are preventive measures to reduce the occurrences of disease and are parts of good personal grooming. Hygiene does not only include personal hygiene related to food, clothing and exercise but also sciences such as engineering, bacteriology, public  sanitation  and  waterworks  (Oyibo,  2012).  The  researcher‘s  belief,  therefore,  affirms the fact that prevention is better than cure.  In support of the above, Park (2015), expressed that infectious and parasitic diseases associated with low standards of personal hygiene remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in many developing countries. Bloomfield, Exner, Fara, Scottand and Vander (2017), stressed that positive personal hygiene will prevent water disease such as diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, bilharzias and typhoid.

Bloomfield, Aiello, Cookson, O‘Boyle and Larson (2017), stressed that personal hygiene involved those practices performed by an individual to care for one‘s bodily health and wellbeing, through cleanliness. Motivations for personal hygiene practice include reduction of personal illness, healing from personal illness, optimal health and sense of wellbeing, social acceptance and prevention of spread of illness to others. What is considered proper personal hygiene can be cultural–specific and may  change over time. Bloomfield, Aiello, Cookson, O‘Boyle, &Larson, (2017) explained further, that other practices that are generally considered proper hygiene include bathing regularly, washing hands  regularly  especially  before  handling  food, washing  scalp  hair,  keeping  hair  short  or removing hair, wearing lean clothing, brushing one‘s teeth and cutting finger nails, besides

other practices.

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Among women aged 20-30 years oldare in the period of development from one stage to another, from childhood to a larger society. At this period, women aged 20-30 years old are exposed to communicable diseases for  being  together with many  women aged 20-30 years old from a number of communities (Bubenik, 2013). At the stage of primary school, the child encounters a number of infectious diseases and potential handicapping conditions which could have been easily prevented from

occurring through proper personal hygiene practice. Therefore, knowledge, attitude and practice of hygiene among target populations are needed to plan and design behavioral interventions. It is against this background that this study is conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of personal hygiene among among women aged 20-30 years oldin Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state, Nigeria, with a view to providing useful data for appropriate action by  the relevant Authorities.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

One of the major problems faced by among women aged 20-30 years old in Nigeria is infections. The primary causes of infections are contaminated water and poor sanitation as well as poor hygienic practices, lack of personal hygiene coupled with poor sanitation favours person-to- person transmission of infection among among women aged 20-30 years old in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state. Hygiene plays  a vital  role  in  preventing  some  of  the  common  communicable  disease  which  spread mainly through water, food, personal contact and surrounding environment (Oyibo, 2012).The importance of school health has been acknowledged across countries since the

beginning of 20th century (Ananthakrishnanet al,2015). Without encouraging women aged 20-30 years oldon the issue of personal hygiene, some may develop unhygienic habits such as lack of proper care of their finger nails, eating with unwashed hand and wearing dirty clothes. Other unhygienic practices that can be found

among women aged 20-30 years old are sharing cup when drinking water and using one spoon  when  eating  food  by  many  primary  school  pupils.  These  can  serve  as  an  avenue  to transfer diseases from one person to another. School teachers are considered the  major source  of information for  their  pupils and would appear to be suitable as health educators. School teachers are expected to be role models so that pupils can emulate and adopt their behaviour and attitudes.Meaningful knowledge positively influence attitude formation because of the recipient`s comprehension of health facts, it is positive attitude formation which leads to positive behaviour. On the contrary, superficial knowledge leads to misconception of facts and development of negative attitude. Negative attitudes result in practicing harmful behaviour. The knowledge, attitude and practice of personal hygiene among among women aged 20-30 years oldto the best of the researcher‘s knowledge is not up to the standard and  has remained neglected. Therefore, among women aged 20-30 years oldin the study area may not have enough health education and personal hygiene. These could make the primary  school pupils to develop unhygienic practices such as lack of proper care of their finger nails, eating with unwashed hand, wearing  dirty  clothes, sharing  cupwhen drinking  water and sharing one spoon when eating food. It was assumed that they would not cover their nose and mouth when coughing with clean handkerchief or tissues and also irregular bathing could be found among women aged 20-30 years old. Neglect of hygiene goes a long way in explaining why water and sanitation programs have often not brought the expected benefit. School health services have tended to focus on nutritional support and clinical assessment. These inputs are absolutely  necessary, but so is the need to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of personal hygiene among among women aged 20-30 years oldin Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.

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1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was;

i. To assess the health education and personal hygiene practices among among women aged 20-30 years oldin Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state;

ii. To  assess  the  attitude  of  Primary school  pupils  towards  personal  hygiene  in  Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.

iii. To assess the practice of personal hygiene among  primary  school pupils in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state

1.4 Research Questions

This study answered the following research questions;

1. Do Among women aged 20-30 years oldhave health education and personal hygiene practicesin Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state?

2. What is the attitude of primary  school pupils towards personal hygiene in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state?

3. Do among women aged 20-30 years oldpractice personal hygiene in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state?

1.5 Hypotheses Major Hypothesis

1. Knowledge,  attitude  and  practice  of  personal  hygiene  among primary school  pupils in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state is not significant.

Sub Hypothesis

a) Primary  school pupils will not have significant Health education and personal hygiene practicesin Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.

b) Among women aged 20-30 years oldwill not have significant positive attitude towards personal hygiene in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.

c) Among women aged 20-30 years oldwill not have significant Practice of personal hygiene in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.

1.6 Basic Assumptions

On the basis of  available  research evidence  and  professional opinion, the  following assumptions were made for the purpose of this study:

1.                            Among women aged 20-30 years oldhave knowledge ofpersonal hygiene in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.

2. Among women aged 20-30 years oldhave positive attitude towards personal hygiene in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.

3.                            Among women aged 20-30 years oldwill practice personal hygiene to some level in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.

1.7 Significance of the Study

It is expected that the findings of this study would be help to;

Add to the body of knowledge through hygienic practices of among women aged 20-30 years oldin Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state. It will establish the knowledge about hygiene among among women aged 20-30 years oldand also the  findings  could  be  used  to  educate  primary school  pupils to  understand  further  need  for practicing personal hygiene in their daily living.

The knowledge, attitude and practice of personal hygiene of among women aged 20-30 years oldin Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state are not well established to the best health education and the researcher. This study will

establish the knowledge, attitude and practice of personal hygiene among among women aged 20-30 years oldin Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state. This study would be used as a policy change under the National School Health Programme and relevant authorities as a tool for parents and teachers to enshrine the values of personal hygiene in school pupils as an appropriate health intervention.

The results of this study would contribute to the existing information on knowledge, attitude and practice of personal hygiene among schools in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state. Also it would be of benefit to the future researchers to further develop research on the personal hygiene practices among Junior Secondary School Women aged 20-30 years.

1.8 Delimitation of the Study

This study was delimited to knowledge, attitude and practice of personal hygiene among among women aged 20-30 years old in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.The study was also limited to public primary schoolwomen aged 20-30 years old between primary 4 to 6 in Garam community TAFA L.G.A, Niger state.