In our society today, we cannot overestimate the importance of environmental sanitation or individual hygiene as it is very critical to how we foster as humans. Children most especially are at the centre of this as it basically affects how they grow and how they can achieve a longer, healthier life.
Cleanliness and sanitation are two of the most important factors when considering the health and growth of children. Poor hygiene can lead to a variety of illnesses, including respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and skin infections. It can also lead to malnutrition, as inadequate hygiene can make it difficult for children to survive the immune attack that may occur from germs and bacteria.
Good hygiene practices are essential for preventing the spread of disease in any environment. This is especially true for young children, who are particularly vulnerable to illness due to their developing immune systems. By teaching children about the importance of cleanliness from an early age, parents can help ensure that they remain healthy for most of their lives.
Due to the continuous rise in the importance of educating our kids about cleanliness and hygiene, so they can build strong immune systems from an early age; Tadao Matsumoto has made capital strides in ensuring that this is done in the best way.
Tadao Matsumoto who is the founder of FUKUIKU, which means to prepare the environment to protect lives and better health; shares with the public his knowledge acquired from over 30 years working in the field of cleanliness and health.
Most of his teachings are very practical and easy to pass on to the kids as his methods are very conventional and adaptive. The children today, if properly taught, will spring forth a generation with lower health concerns, stronger immune bodies and a healthier society.
He has this to say when granting an interview on how cleanliness shouldn’t be neglected and compulsorily taught to the kids— “How we, who are not medical experts, can protect people’s health. We are not medical experts, but we can protect people’s health by creating a healthy environment. The indoor environment has changed dramatically since the past. Allergies caused by mold, dust mites, and house dust, food poisoning caused by bacteria, and infectious diseases caused by viruses. These occur all year round. The new coronavirus is not the only thing to be afraid of. If you look through the fluffy, grey dust under a microscope, you will see lots of mould, bacteria, and mite droppings.”
There are a host of other advantages that could be simultaneously achieved through teaching cleanliness to our children, some of these include:
- Better self-esteem
- Awareness and concern for the environment.
- A good attitude towards learning
- Great ideas for food consumption and diet
- Get to know a bit more on health failures and reasons
- Be more responsible adults as they grow.
According to the recent submission from the World Health Organization, the WHO; life expectancies decline by almost 7% in every half a decade. If you ever need to rationalize the importance of teaching the younger generation about cleanliness and hygiene, this should be where we should start. It shows that, if we do not make intentional efforts towards the teachings and implementations of environmental sanitation, personal and collective hygiene/cleanliness, we may well continue to decline in our overall health until it is nearly impossible to reverse the situation.
The time is now!
The time to design/adopt simple methods that are comfortable to teach our kids about cleanliness and hygiene is now. At no point can we say that we’ve overdone ourselves on this, so we must continue as parents, guardians and teachers to show the kids the right way to achieve lasting health, wellness and hygiene; holistically.
