Personal Hygiene Practices and School-Based Health Education Among Secondary School Boarding Students in Okura Community of Dekina LGA, Kogi State

Abstract

Personal hygiene is necessary for illness prevention and health promotion. Adolescents are learning to be responsible for their health, and school-based health education encourages knowledge-based compliance with good personal hygiene in boarding schools. There is a dearth of studies that assess hygiene practices and school based health education in boarding schools in Nigeria. The main goal of this study was to investigate the personal hygiene practices and school- based health education among boarding secondary school students in Okura community of Dekina LGA in Kogi state, Nigeria. The study adopted a mixed method design and gathered data using a structured questionnaire from two hundred and eighty four (284) consenting boarders in four schools in Okura, Kogi. Qualitative data through semi-structured interview and Tesch’s content analysis was utilised. Multistage sampling technique was used. Data analysis was by descriptive and inferential statistics at 5% level of significance. Frequency distribution revealed that majority of the respondents, 154 (54.2%) were less than 15 years, and 130(45.8%) between 15 and 17 years old. Knowledge, practice and perception figures were 18.6±1.4, 8.8±2.8 and 6.7±2.4 respectively. Over two thirds of the students engage in good personal hygiene practices 96.7% with good school health education. Respondents with positive and negative perception were 91.6 % and 8.4% respectively. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between personal hygiene practices and school health education. School based health education has a significant positive impact on personal hygiene practices of boarding school students. It is recommended that continuous lectures and exercises be improved and maintained in boarding schools. Additionally, policies, infrastructure and methods that encourage school-based health education and personal hygiene practices in boarding schools should be prioritised by the government.

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