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Description of this Class for Parents and Caregivers

HYGIENE – TEACHER NOTES

Teacher notes are designed to supplement the slide deck for lessons throughout THAT HEALTH CLASS. At the start of each set of notes is a general introduction for educators – this information does not have a corresponding slide. Following the INTRO FOR EDUCATORS, every slide in the deck has a set of notes including more detailed definitions, extra examples, and ideas for in class exercises. There are no supplemental notes for the LET’S TALK ABOUT IT and SCENARIO conversation starter slides, because these are simply meant to be jumping off points for class discussions if needed. 

The goal of these supplemental notes is twofold: 

• To offer both basic background information for educators who feel less confident   teaching a given lesson 

• To offer a deeper dive into biology, physiology, and data for educators craving more information

Listen to our podcast episode about hygiene for more information. We also have a long list of favorite resources pointing to much more content about any and all of the topics covered in this curriculum.

 

INTRO FOR EDUCATORS 

As puberty begins, the need for good hygiene escalates big time! 

• This is largely thanks to hormones causing increased sweat and higher oil concentrations inside of that sweat 
• These shifts translate into body odor and acne, impacting social dynamics and self-esteem. 
• Just telling kids to use deodorant isn’t nearly as effective as explaining the underpinnings of what’s going on inside the body.

This class introduces kids to hygiene basics, including the why behind these strategies. Good hygiene has been shown to impact health, well-being, and confidence. Hopefully, it also makes your classroom a little bit better smelling!

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand the variety of meanings of the word hygiene.
• Learn the different ways people keep their bodies clean. 
• Recognize why good hygiene matters in the short term and in the long run. 

 

HYGIENE INTRO

It’s important for people to understand the connection between hygiene and wellness. Being clean leads to better health 

Example: Hand washing

• Washing hands keeps bacteria and viruses off of hands and fingers.
• This means that when we eat, those organisms don’t get onto our food and into our mouth (think about picking up a sandwich or licking your fingers after eating chips).
• Also, separate from eating, hands and fingers often end up rubbing eyes, picking noses, or inside the mouth (nail biting!). 
• If hands and fingers are germ-covered, those bacteria or viruses travel inside the body.

 

Good hygiene can also change a person’s social experiences

Self-esteem and self-confidence can be hard to come by some days, especially when the body is shifting and changing.

• The way a person smells can affect how they are treated by others
  • Example: Have you ever noticed people keeping their distance from someone with bad breath?
  • Example: Have you ever noticed how people react when someone has strong body odor?
• Cleaning the body, washing hair, and brushing teeth show others that you respect your body enough to take good care of it. 
  • People who take better care of themselves often report feeling better.
  • This actually changes their body language – they might smile more or stand up straighter.
  • Exercise: take a minute to have the class use body language to illustrate the difference between confidence and lack of confidence – how do these emotions change the way we stand up straight, hold our head, carry our shoulders, or cast our gaze?

 

5 HYGIENE FACTS

These are the essential daily tasks of hygiene, along with explanations about how they help people get and stay healthy

Exercise: Before scrolling through this slide, you might make this an interactive activity starting with this prompt: Who can tell us what kinds of daily activities good hygiene includes? 

 

FACE: Washing the face twice a day removes dirt and oils, which then minimizes irritation and even the formation of acne (which kids all refer to as zits, so you can too!). If you’re interested in learning more about pimple formation, here’s a Puberty Podcast episode that explains it all in a very amusing way. 

• Washing clears away the bacteria that cause acne. 
• It also helps to unplug the skin’s pores where pimples form.
• There’s an entire class about skin care + acne in the 6th grade course list if you’re looking for more information.

 

TEETH: There’s a reason we tell kids (and adults!) to brush teeth twice a day – top and bottom, front and back – and floss once a day:

• Brushing removes bacteria and plaque.
• These are the underlying causes of tooth decay teeth and gum disease.
• Bacteria also make the breath smell because of offgassing .
• This is similar to the way body odor works (described below).
• Brushing the tongue is key here, too.
• Flossing removes the food and bacteria from between the teeth.
• Basically, this takes out the garbage between the teeth. 
• It keeps gums healthy and further reduces the bacteria load, improving breath.

 

For those with time to share, this is an excellent 4 minute video from TedEd: What Causes Bad Breath? 

 

BODY: Many kids don’t realize that bathing, showering, or sponge bathing once a day is key to basic hygiene. 

• Bathing removes dirt, germs, and irritants that otherwise pile up on the skin.
• Some skin types cannot tolerate washing and drying every day.
• This is why sponge bathing may be recommended for them.
• All kids should be encouraged to focus on the sweatier, smellier spots like underarms, feet and groin area. 
• Water alone does NOT do the trick! 
• Soap surrounds the dirt and oil, which then allows it to lift off of the skin’s surface. 
• Here’s a 30 second explainer video: Why You Need to Use Soap in the Shower
• Soaps with no colors or perfumes are usually best, especially on sensitive skin.
• Hair washing frequency varies with hair type
• Some need to do it every day, some once a week, and lots of people fall in between.

 

For those with time to share, this is an excellent 4 minute video from TedEd: What Causes Body Odor? 

 

SKIN CARE: Washing the face dries it out. In fact, so do many of the products used by kids to ward off pimples. Drying products counteract the oils on the skin at first… but then the oil glands beneath the skin’s surface sense the arid conditions and increase their oil production. So, overdried skin can actually become greasy.

• • This is why it’s important to moisturize the skin, even when that feels counterintuitive: 
    • Dried-out skin can split, itch, rash or even break out. 
    • Pimples form when dry skin tries to moisturize itself and it produces extra oil.
    • Oily skin that is repeatedly stripped of its surface oils needs a cue to stop producing more grease.
  • Daytime moisturizers should have sunscreen!

• Kids don’t typically respond to worries about skin cancers, but tell them that SPF prevents wrinkles (which it does) and they’re more likely to comply.

• Fun fact: Ask what the difference is between the skin on a 90-year old’s bottom and their face? 

• The answer: wrinkles. 

• Why?: because the bottom doesn't get exposed to the sun.

• Color-free and perfume-free moisturizers are usually the least irritating… that said, avoid products that sting, even if they are perfume- and color-free.

 

FEET: They need washing and airing out, or bacteria and yeast can grow.

• Bacteria on the feet create strong smells.
• “Athlete’s foot” is a yeast (fungus) that grows between the toes when they’re hot and sweaty.
• Sometimes the only symptom is itchiness or stinging.

 

3 HYGIENE MYTHS

Understanding the things we should not to do as part of hygiene. 

 

The more you wash the better → nope! This was covered above, but some reminders below:

• When frequent washing dries out the skin, the oil glands underneath try to rehydrate the top dried-out layer by secreting extra oil, making the skin greasy and increasing the chance of pimples. 
  • There’s lots more information about acne in the 6th grade skincare lesson.
  • Quick summary here: the pore appears as a tiny hole in the skin’s surface, but it’s really a deeper, flask-shaped structure with a hair follicle and an oil gland – it’s long narrow neck can get clogged with oil and bacteria, creating a bump, either white, red, lack, or some combination.
• Scrubbing the face too hard can inflame the skin.
  • This makes it splotchy, red, and more sensitive.
• In the scalp, overdrying causes oily hair and dandruff.

 

Here’s the liked video that accompanies this slide text: 1-800-DAN-DRUFF

 

Picking a pimple makes it heal faster → nope! Quite the opposite! 

• Picking may open up the clogged pore and release white blood cells (the whitehead), but it also opens a bigger hole on the skin.
• Bacteria that normally live on the skin (as part of the microbiome) can climb down into the pore and multiply, making pimples worse.
• Picking causes more inflammation.
  • This can make the area even more red and swollen.

 

In addition to the video that accompanies the text in the slide deck ( Don’t Pick Your Face ), scroll to the bottom of this link for this 3 min video: Is There a Pimple Cure?

 

No one notices when you don’t brush your teeth → you wish! In a non-shaming way, it’s important to teach kids how people perceive them when they opt out of hygiene routines. 

• The mouth is a bacteria breeding ground.
• It’s those bacteria that make the breath stink.
• Brushing and flossing are the only ways they get cleaned out.

 

SUMMARY 

 

“Hygiene” means the list of activities people can (and should!) do regularly because these things really do keep the body healthier, and they usually make people feel more confident, too. 

We’ve included a video that runs through hygiene best practices: How Often Should… Hygiene Summary