Public Health Open Access ISSN: 2578-5001 MEDWIN PUBLISHERS Commited to Create Value for Researchers Assessment of the Personal Hygiene Practices among Primary Schools Children, Sudan: A Cross-Sectional School-Based Study Public H Open Acc Assessment of the Personal Hygiene Practices among Primary Schools Children, Sudan: A Cross-Sectional School-Based Study Mohammed Elmadani 1 , Elham Elamin 2 , Abdelhakam G Tamomh 3 * and Peter Twum 4 1 Department of Epidemiology, University of El Imam El Mahdi, Sudan 2 Department of Hematology, University of El Imam El Mahdi, Sudan 3 Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, University of El Imam El Mahdi, Sudan 4 College of Health and Well Being, Ghana *Corresponding author: Abdelhakam G Tamomh, Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Faculty of Medical Lab- oratory Sciences, University of El Imam El Mahdi, Kosti, Sudan, Email: abdelhakam738@gmail.com; abdelhakam738@mahdi. edu.sd Research Article Volume 5 Issue 1 Received Date: December 02, 2020 Published Date: January 06, 2021 DOI: 10.23880/phoa-16000170 Abstract The importance of school health has acknowledged across countries since the beginning of the 20th century. Good personal hygiene now forms part of the primary health prevention strategy, and this is effective in reducing morbidity and mortality in children. The current study conducted to assess the personal hygiene practices among primary school children. An observational descriptive cross-sectional facility-based study conducted among 276 pupils during the period from January to February 2016, they were interviewed using a designed pre-tested questionnaire. The study showed that (55.4%) of school’s children keeping their hair clean, (76.1%) brushing their teeth daily, (60.1%) pruning their nails, (66.3%) taking daily bath, (77.2%) wearing clean clothes, (47.1%) taking bathing after playing, and all children among study population wearing shoes while coming to school. The boys showed better hand hygiene practices before eating rather than the girls (39.3% & 37.6%), respectively. Statistically, no significant association observed between practices of personal hygiene among study group and educational level of their mothers, and the statistical association observed between (cleaning hair, trimming nails, washing hands after using the toilet) and gender variable (P< 0.05). The results of the current study revealed that a large number of primary school pupils had good personal hygiene. It was also evident that good personal hygiene practices manifested in girls than in boy’s ones. Keywords: Personal Hygiene; School Children; Khartoum State; Sudan Introduction Personal hygiene aims to promote standards of personal cleanliness within the setting of the condition where people live [1]. Personal hygiene includes bathing, clothing, washing hands after toilet, care of nails, feet, and teeth; spitting, coughing, sneezing, personal appearance, and healthy habits inculcation in the young people [2,3]. Personal hygiene training should start at a very young age and should continue through school-age [4,5]. Also, it recognized that improved personal hygiene is effective in preventing transmission of many diseases [6-9]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about two million people every year die due to diarrheal diseases [10]. The majority of deaths occur among children under the age of five years [11]. Hygiene practices prevent or minimize disease and the spreading of disease. The microbial growth due to germs may lead to various infectious diseases among children [12,13]. Since