ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Adolescents have suboptimal hand hygiene habits: this was the conclusion reached in a global study of teens.

The Student Health Survey examined the hand hygiene practices of 354,422 adolescents aged 13-17 years in 92 countries. And according to the results, only 30.3 per cent of teenagers claim to practise appropriate hand hygiene.

The results of the study - which considered practices such as hand washing after using the washroom and before eating - were collated by researchers at the University of Queensland's Institute for Social Science Research. While soap and water availability was an issue in some countries, it emerged that around 60 per cent of adolescents were not practising appropriate hand hygiene even when they had access to these facilities.

Unhealthy behaviours such as smoking and adopting a sedentary lifestyle were foiund to be linked to inappropriate hand hygiene, according to researcher Dr Yaqoot Fatima. And those teens who experienced higher levels of parental support and enjoyed good relationships with their parents were more likely to demonstrate adequate hand hygiene.

"While access to handwashing facilities and knowledge of proper hygiene is important for practising adequate hand hygiene, the study also showed that the knowledge-behaviour gap is a major reason for sub-optimal hand hygiene practices," said Dr Fatima.

"The positive role of parent support suggests that interventions should focus on adolescents' parents and seek their active involvement in designing and delivering those interventions."

Other suggestions included using peer-led behaviour change initiatives and introducing health and hygiene training to the school curriculum. The findings were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.