Hand hygiene in children: is washing still enough?
Does your child know the rhyme about washing hands and how to do it? Caring for clean hands - both our own and our children's - has recently become particularly relevant. Especially in conditions of epidemiological threat, but also on a daily basis - it is necessary to follow the sanitary regime.
Below, we'll explain how to best care for children's hands—not just during the coronavirus pandemic. Frequent and thorough handwashing is key — it's important to teach children this from a young age.
Hygiene, don't overdo it
As research has shown, adults' hygiene, not just their hands, varies , resulting in a lack of proper habits among the younger generation, who learn best by observing and imitating their parents or caregivers. However, when a small child arrives at home (especially the first in the family), concern for their health can sometimes push household members to the opposite extreme. Knowing the need to maintain cleanliness in a child's environment and wanting to provide them with the best possible environment, it's easy to overdo hygiene —bathing and wiping with wet wipes too often, constantly scalding their pacifier, not allowing them to put their thumbs in their mouths, disinfecting everything around them, etc. This isn't the way to go, although maintaining good hygiene with our hands, which we touch practically everything with, is certainly not excessive. Let's make sure that handwashing becomes a hygienic habit for children as soon as possible.
Excessive sterility is harmful
Excessive cleanliness isn't good for children's health—quite the opposite, in fact. By doing so, we deprive our children of contact with bacteria, other microorganisms, and allergens, negatively impacting their immune systems , which have no chance of learning to fight them. Overzealous hygiene (especially when using disinfectants) promotes the development of allergies, which are becoming an increasingly serious problem in children. On the other hand, dirty hands harbor numerous microorganisms that can easily enter the body, causing health-threatening illnesses—some of which are often referred to as "dirty hands diseases" (e.g., hepatitis A, also known as foodborne hepatitis).
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Chief Specialist for issuing opinions on utility products for children at the Institute of Mother and Child in the years 2004-06.2022
The best soapy water
Handwashing – for children and adults – is the best way to keep them clean. Even considering the current situation, where the entire world is grappling with COVID-19, it's worth promoting, above all, thorough handwashing with soap and warm water for children. Parents sometimes ask if there are any specific handwashing instructions for children . The same rules apply as for adults: warm water and thorough washing of all hands and wrists, for at least 30 seconds. The truth is, if we remembered a few simple rules of hand hygiene every day and instilled them in our children, additional hand disinfection – except for situations like cuts or abrasions – would be unnecessary or only necessary occasionally, especially when away from home.
Disinfect your hands or not?
The issue of using disinfectants on children has always been controversial – experts do not recommend their daily use, especially at home . The problem is that toddlers tend to touch various surfaces, frequently touch their faces, and put their fingers and other objects in their mouths. However, there is no better or safer method than frequent handwashing – for children of all ages . When outside the home, whenever possible, it's also worth ensuring that our children do not touch doorknobs, intercom buttons, posts, etc. For older children, try to calmly explain why they shouldn't do this. For children over 6 years of age, given the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, it is acceptable to use products (e.g., gels) for hygienic disinfection by rubbing, as long as they have a simple and safe composition – free of fragrances, which can irritate or cause allergic reactions to the skin and mucous membranes.
Expert advises
During the current epidemic, it is still most recommended to wash children's hands with warm water and soap, preferably a liquid soap that has a label stating that it is suitable for use on children. The surfactants present in soap dissolve the lipid envelope of SARS-CoV-2, contributing to its destruction – provided that hand washing is thorough and lasts no less than 30 seconds. It's important to note that disinfectant liquids and gels typically contain 70% alcohol (lower concentrations are ineffective against microorganisms), which has an irritating and drying effect on the skin, especially in children under 6 years of age. Excessive use of alcohol in young children can lead to skin burns and even have toxic effects. However, this doesn't mean that disinfectants shouldn't be used in cases where this is necessary (e.g., a child's hospital stay), but it should be done in a controlled manner, under the supervision of staff. For children over 6 years of age, when hand washing is not possible, such as when in a public space, hand sanitizers may be used, provided they do not contain other toxic or irritating ingredients besides ethanol. However, it is important to ensure that the safety of such products for use in children has been confirmed by an independent research body.
Let's teach healthy habits
Handwashing instructions for children are similar to those for adults – especially at the beginning, it's worth doing it together with your child to show them how it's done. Before setting an example for your children, however, let's make sure we're washing our hands properly ourselves. Learning through play is certainly a good idea – the handwashing rhyme mentioned at the beginning is an example.
In summary, keeping our children's hands clean and instilling good hygiene habits is our parental responsibility. It's worth investing time and attention so that children begin to take handwashing for granted as soon as possible. Let's teach them to do this not only frequently but also as thoroughly as possible . It's best to avoid using hand sanitizers for toddlers. For children over 6 years of age, this is acceptable as long as we choose a safe and proven product and ensure they only use it when necessary. Overusing hand sanitizers can be counterproductive.
Author: Ewa Kamińska, head of the Department of Pharmacology at the Institute of Mother and Child
More about disinfection at home can be found here.
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