Assessment of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Practices among School Going Children

Abstract

In rural areas, many important hygiene practices are unavailable causing gastrointestinal and respiratory infections in school-going children. The objective of this study was to assess water, sanitation, and hygiene practices among school-going children in rural areas of Gujrat, Pakistan. A cross-sectional study was conducted among school-going children in different schools in Gujrat, Pakistan. The data was collected in 4 months from December, 2021 to March, 2022 with a total number of 1000 participants. Data collection was carried out using a close-ended structured questionnaire among different school-going children. It contained a total of 14 questions about hygiene practices in children. Data was entered and analyzed on SPSS version 26 and frequencies and percentages were mentioned as their responses in the form of tables and pie charts. The results of the current study comprised responses of 1000 boys and girls from different schools. The responses showed that 601(60.1%) children did not wash their hands before and after meals in school while, 568(56.8%) children did not flush before and after the toilet, 578(57.8%) did not wash their genital organs, 995(99.5%) drank tap water in schools, and 646(64.6%) drank 5-10 glasses of water per day. It was concluded by the study that most of school-going children did not follow hygienic practices and there is need to highlight the issues