Information: children and personal care

Everyone knows that keeping your body clean is an important part of staying healthy. For children, personal care is about learning the daily routines of oral care, washing, toilet hygiene and hair care. The lifelong habits of good personal care will keep children healthy and prevent the spread of common illnesses. It is important for children to:

• Wash your hair
• Wash your face and body
• Brush and floss your teeth
• Trim your nails
• Wash your hands

There are a number of physical problems associated with poor personal care. Good personal care is the first step to good health. Children can develop health problems because of poor personal care practices. Some conditions that can be controlled by improving a child's personal care are:

• Head lice
• Dandruff
• Ear wax
• Body odor
• Perspiration
• Bad breath
• Athletes foot

Good personal care is not all about the physical. It is also about a child feeling good about who they are. As children grow and mature, they need to feel good about how they look. Caring about the way they look is important to their self esteem.