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Hygiene and Healthy Habits For Teens
Hygiene and Healthy Habits For Teens
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LESSON 1
HANDWASHING
CONTENT OVERVIEW OBJECTIVES
In this lesson, you will learn that: By the end of this lesson,
1. Microorganisms such as bacteria and you should be able to:
In this lesson,
viruses are microscopic organisms that exist 1. Explain the importance of we will learn to:
everywhere. They can easily transfer from handwashing in preventing
objects and surfaces to people, or from one the spread of disease.
person to another. 2. List critical times when
2. Microorganisms can cause illness, so it is handwashing is needed.
important to prevent their spread. 3. Demonstrate proper
3. One way to protect yourself and others from handwashing techniques.
getting sick is by proper handwashing.
Try placing baby powder on your hands and pretend that the
TRY THIS little white particles are microorganisms. Next, try touching a
surface, like your shirt or a chair. As you can see, the powder
spreads easily. Lastly, try to shake your hands. Does the powder
come off?
Just like the powder, microorganisms spread easily! They can
go from your hand to a surface, or from a surface to your body.
They can transfer from one person to another. They can even
transfer from your hands to your food and drinks! Merely wiping
or shaking your hands will not help to get rid of them.
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Lesson 1 - Handwashing
Handwashing is one of the best ways to get rid of these microorganisms. Soap can kill these
microorganisms, so washing your hands properly can help prevent the spread of microorganisms
that cause people to get sick.
When, and how often, should you wash your hands? These are the times we need to remember to
wash our hands:
Before, during, and Before eating food Before and after After coughing or
after preparing food caring for a sick sneezing
person
After using the toilet After touching money After touching After touching
animals or animal garbage or dirty
waste dishes
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Lesson 1 - Handwashing
1 2
First, apply soap and create a thick Next, rub your palms together while
lather for about 20 seconds. intertwining your fingers.
3 4
Then, rub the backs of your fingers and Afterwards, grasp one thumb and rub
fingertips against the opposite palm. with a rotating motion. Do the same
Do the same with the other hand. with the other thumb.
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Follow that with rubbing one palm Lastly, rinse your hands with running
against the back of the other palm, and water.
vice versa.
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Lesson 1 - Handwashing
Remember, handwashing is one of the best measures to protect yourself and others
from getting sick because it prevents the spread of microorganisms and reduces
the risk of getting other communicable infections. Be responsible for your health by
regularly practicing good hygiene.
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Lesson 1 - Handwashing
List down as many situations (i.e. opportunities for contamination) as you can come up with.
Then, for each situation, think of ways by which restaurants, supermarkets or owners of public
establishments can help prevent the spread of microorganisms through person-to-surface
contact. Have a look at these alternatives to the examples listed earlier:
• Restaurants place their menus on the wall instead of handing out menus.
• Spoons and forks are retrieved from a heated sanitizer, rather than handed out by the server.
• Customers pay electronically instead of by cash.
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LESSON 2
PERSONAL HYGIENE
CONTENT OVERVIEW OBJECTIVES
In this lesson, your child will learn that: By the end of this lesson, your
1. Personal hygiene is important in maintaining child should be able to: In this lesson,
we will learn to:
one’s health and preventing the spread of 1. Describe the importance of
diseases. personal hygiene.
2. Personal hygiene practices include 2. Explain what acceptable
handwashing, bathing regularly, washing scalp and poor personal hygiene
and hair, brushing teeth, cutting fingernails and practices are.
wearing clean clothes. 3. Demonstrate personal
hygiene practices.
Taking a bath is especially important for girls who are menstruating. Some believe in the myth
that bathing during your menstruation is bad, but that is not true. Bathing can help you to be
comfortable during your monthly period. You should replace your sanitary pads as often as
needed, or at least every 3-5 hours.
Wearing dirty clothes after bathing just exposes you again to the presence of bacteria that may be
multiplying on your dirty or sweaty clothes. Make sure to wear clean clothes and underwear after
every bath.
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Lesson 2 - Personal Hygiene
Also, it’s important not to share towels, combs or brushes. Do you know why?
You should not share towels, combs, brushes or even hair accessories to avoid the spread of head
lice or nits. Lice are small, wingless insects that live on the scalp and suck off human blood. If a
person with lice uses your brush, for instance, the lice might transfer to your brush, and it might
transfer to your head the next time you use your brush.
If your head is always itchy, it may mean that you have head lice. You should ask an adult to look
carefully at the strands of your hair to look for nits (lice eggs.) Nits do not come off by mere
brushing. You will need a special kind of shampoo to get rid of it.
Another important personal hygiene practice is brushing your teeth. Why is it important to brush
your teeth?
When we chew food, some of it gets stuck to our teeth and gums, while some of it gets stuck
in the spaces between our teeth. There is a sticky film that builds up on the surface of our teeth
called plaque and it has a lot of bacteria. The bacteria in plaque produce acids that can damage
the outer layer of your teeth, causing cavities and tooth decay.
Did you know that you are not supposed to rinse your mouth out with water after brushing your
teeth? This is so that the fluoride in the toothpaste will remain on your teeth to protect them
against plaque.
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Lesson 2 - Personal Hygiene
TRY THIS
Make a recording of yourself explaining the importance of these personal hygiene habits. These
videos can be used to educate younger siblings or cousins about the importance of good
hygiene. They can be uploaded on a social media platform or even turned into a video blog.
You can collaborate online with one or two friends on this activity. Each should prepare a
recording and get feedback from the others to improve the recordings. If you are not able to
record a video, you may instead create flyers or infographics that can be shared with younger
siblings and cousins.
Remember: Personal hygiene is important because it affects your health and well-being,
as well as the health of those around you. Be responsible for your health by regularly
practicing good hygiene.
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LESSON 3
HEALTHY HABITS TO HELP IMMUNITY
CONTENT OVERVIEW OBJECTIVES
In this lesson, you will learn that: By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. A strong immune system defends the body 1. Understand the nature and importance of the
against the millions of microorganisms it is immune system.
exposed to every day, offering protection 2. Explain the role of Healthy Habits in
against a range of illnesses, from the common building up one’s resistance and preventing
cold to chronic disease. communicable diseases.
2. Along with keeping good hygiene, habits that 3. Practice Healthy Habits to support normal
support one’s immune system are as follows: immunity and prevent the spread of
• Choose nutritious and varied food communicable diseases.
• Manage portions
• Choose to drink water and milk
• Enjoy meals together
• Play actively
• Care for the planet
If our immune system is strong and functioning properly, then it can defend itself against the
microorganisms that cause sickness. But if our immune system is weak, it may lose against bad
microorganisms.
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White blood cells are an important part of the immune
system. They circulate throughout the body, looking for foreign
bodies like bacteria, viruses and parasites.
White blood cells include:
• Neutrophils – these circulate throughout the body to look
for foreign substances
• Eosinophils – these protect the body from parasitic
infections
• Basophils - these respond during allergic reactions
• Monocytes – these ingest invading microorganisms
• Lymphocytes - these help the body remember the microorganisms and destroy them
TRY THIS
Research the following online:
• What are the signs and symptoms of a weakened immune system?
• What consequences and diseases are associated with a weak or compromised immune
system?
In the previous lessons, we learned to Keep Good Hygiene. This lesson talks about other
Healthy Habits that can help support our immune system. The immune system is always
working to get rid of any infection. You can help your immune system do its job by
practicing the Healthy Habits. These Healthy Habits strengthen your immune system so
that it can ‘resist’ or fight off infections.
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Lesson 3 - Healthy Habits to Help Immunity
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Lesson 3 - Healthy Habits to Help Immunity
Let’s talk about the second Healthy Habit that that helps
support our immune system: Manage Portions.
This is Pinggang Pinoy®. It is an easy-to-understand food
guide that reminds us what our meals should look like
every day. A nutritious meal consists of Go, Grow and Glow
food which should be eaten with a glass of water and/or a
nutritious beverage like fortified milk. Following Pinggang
Pinoy® helps to strengthen our immunity.
Pinggang Pinoy® reminds us that half of the plate should have fruits and vegetables, with more
vegetables than fruits. The other half is for grains and protein sources, with more grains than
protein. Having the correct portion sizes in every meal ensures that we get the vitamins and
minerals needed to strengthen immunity and prevent infection.
Pinggang Pinoy® image adapted from Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Science and Technology. (2016). Pinggang
Pinoy® A Healthy Plate for a Well-Nourished Nation: Guide for nutrition professionals. Taguig City, Philippines. FNRI-DOST.
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Lesson 3 - Healthy Habits to Help Immunity
Physical activity does not just refer to sports and exercises. Physical activity also includes the
things you do to get your body moving, like doing household chores or going for a walk with your
family.
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Lesson 3 - Healthy Habits to Help Immunity
Identify nutritious foods that you need to add to your diet. Perhaps you do not eat
enough vegetables and fruits, or you only eat one kind of protein (such as chicken).
Research recipes (or come up with one of your own) for a vegetable, fruit, or protein
source that you should add to your diet. Share this recipe with your friends and teacher
through email or social media.
With a friend or classmate, think of ways you can remember to drink water throughout
the day. For instance, you can use an alarm to remind you every hour, or you can remind
yourself to drink water each time you walk into the kitchen. For seven days, you and your
classmate can record the number of glasses of water you drank each day to see if your
ideas helped to increase your water intake.
Ask your family members to answer this question during your next meal: “Name three
things you are grateful for.” Come up with similar questions that you can discuss while
enjoying your meal together and share these questions with your teacher and classmates.
Make an exercise video that you can share on your social media account, or choose a day
and time when you can meet with friends online to exercise together. Record your your
group exercise and share this video with your teacher and classmates to encourage them
to have physical activity as well.
Walk through your home with a member of your family and observe areas where
cleanliness can be improved. Come up with tips on how to properly clean surfaces of
your house, to keep your home clean and sanitized. Share these tips in a video or create a
poster that you can send to your teacher and classmates.
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