Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding personal hygiene among primary school children in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted by in-person interview of primary school children from grades II to VI at the selected school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Each child was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was drawn up in English, translated into Arabic (the local language), and back-translated into English to check the translation. The study was conducted between 2019 and 2022.
Results: The study included 492 children from 39 schools and most of the participants were females (54.7%). The most common grade among participants was grade 4 (34.1%), and the majority of participants were 11 years old (29.9%). Further, most participants had excellent academic achievement (39.2%). Most of the participants could identify the correct definition of personal hygiene (56.1%). About 63.4% could recognize the correct components of personal hygiene. Most students (51.2%) received their knowledge about personal hygiene from their parents. Around 52.6% of students totally agreed that personal hygiene and clean surroundings are important for a healthy life.
Conclusion: The current study concluded that primary school students in Jeddah have an excellent level of knowledge, practice, and attitude toward personal hygiene. Some of the assessed points were poor among some participants. Thus, intervention programs to increase schoolchildren’s awareness about these points are needed to improve pediatric well-being among school children in Jeddah.

Key words: Knowledge, awareness, practice, personal hygiene, children