Teach Your Kids Good Personal Hygiene: Healthy Habits for Life

Proper personal hygiene is knowledge most of us take for granted. For kids, learning proper personal hygiene can be a difficult and embarrassing lesson. With a few simple pointers and a little practice, any child can learn the basics of good personal hygiene and save themselves from the dreaded class laughter.

Teaching children personal hygiene should cover six areas. These areas are smelling clean, clean clothing, clean shoes, clean hair, clean teeth and perfumes and colognes .

No child ever wants to be taunted for smelling "stinky". As puberty approaches, a child will not only mature physically in ways others can see, but personally as well. These personal changes include a maturation of sweat glands under the arms and in personal places. Talking with your child about these changes before they happen will help ease the shock of odor and wetness when puberty occurs.

Along with clean skin, children will need to learn about clean clothing. Changing clothing often, especially undergarments, is important, especially during puberty and after. Underclothing often collects dead skin cells, sweat and other personal excretions which increases the need for frequent changes.

An important, yet often forgotten, personal hygiene area for kids is their shoes. A human's feet contain the largest number of sweat glands in one area of the body. When at all possible, children should have a pair of shoes set aside for school wear and another for play wear. If a child has more than one pair of shoes, alternating daily wear will allow enough time for the shoes to dry and air out, preventing the molds and mildew that can lead to foot and shoe odor.

Clean shoes inevitably will go hand in hand with clean feet. Personal hygiene for kids must include washing the feet at least once a day. After washing, make sure to teach your child to dry the feet completely. If your child takes showers after gym or sports in school, wearing flip flops will help prevent foot fungus and athlete's foot from creeping up your child's toes.

From toes to head, hair is also an important part of personal hygiene for kids. Keeping the hair clean by washing regularly and combing or brushing to remove old, dead skin cells from the scalp will help diminish the oils and odors that collect in hair.

Hair is not the only part of the body to be brushed. Oral hygiene is part of personal hygiene for kids as well. Teeth should be brushed at least twice a day. While at school, to keep the mouth and teeth clean, a child can wash out the mouth with water after meals and snacks.

When children move from our little gems into full-blown tweens, puberty will change more than their demeanors. Personal hygiene for kids is a great way for parents to help a child ease into the teenage years without any added embarrassment.