Today’s guest post was written by my friend Mary Nolan. Mary is a West Point Graduate. After college, she defended our country in the Army and even earned a Bronze Star Medal for her heroism while serving oversees. She is now a mom to three and also earning her doctorate in Chinese Medicine.

Mary, take it away…

It was well after dark one night recently as I stood washing the last of the dinner dishes in our finally peaceful home, staring out the window, thinking “Children’s health … yeah, that shouldn’t be too tough!” Ohhh, the logic of a hopefully optimistic, definitely sleep-deprived parent.

I’d say it’s a broad topic, one wrought with a myriad of medical literature, clinical data, cultural influence, and a few emotion-based opinions. 

• The vaccination debate? Yep – that’s part of it.
• Increasing rates of type II diabetes in children? That’s one for Ted Talks. 
• The merits of good, old-fashioned exercise on the playground? Ok, a bit more palatable for the casual reader. 

So, true to the tactics of a mother desperately trying to channel three young children out of the house, I silenced my swarming inner dialogue with a much simpler choice – tea or wine?

Wine won. I sat down with that glass of wine and asked – what is one of the most ardent actions I incorporate daily towards my children’s own health?

Hand washing

I came up with hand washing

Wait – don’t stop reading yet.

Call it the prior U.S. Army Preventive Medicine Officer in me, or just the wisdom (i.e. mental scarring) of parenthood post-family-sick-day, but there is a tendency to overlook simple solutions to many seemingly complex problems. 

Hand washing is perhaps the most basic, repeatable public health measure with the greatest impact on community (let alone children’s) health. 

Aside from the obvious benefits of reducing exposure to harmful bacteria, hand washing is a perfect example of positive deviance – the idea of building up capabilities people already have rather than introducing something new that requires additional resources. In the case of hand washing, it’s something we can do, often and well, to systematically knock down the plethora of microorganisms that our little ones tend to encounter and then propagate through the family.

Why is hand washing so important? If you’re anything like me, you can almost see (…even feel) little microorganisms colonizing public railings, commercial floors (heck, our own floors!), door handles, restaurant high chairs, toilets (and anything within 3 meters of them …), and nearly anything your child reaches down to grab and says “Look!!” Well many of those microorganisms find their way not only onto your children’s ever-curious, sensory driven hands, but then into their eyes, nose, and most cringe-worthy, their mouths. Hand washing with soap and water can cut that cycle of germ-spreading not just from the source to your child, but from them to their dear siblings, friends, classmates, and YOU. Sure anti-microbial soaps have us all concerned about TOO much protection from bacteria and not enough exercise for our immune systems, but that’s where I say send the kids outside and let them bask in the glory of natural flora. The suns UV rays denature most of what will harm them out there anyway. It’s what tends to lurk indoors and on people and surfaces that leads to those loathsome family sick days.

So what would you say is the best way to implement hand washing into the daily routine? Well, back to those years when I was a Preventive Medicine Officer in the Army, getting thousands of gritty, mission-focused Soldiers to adopt something so mundane meant making it their ticket to the good stuff: 

• Want to get into the mess hall for chow? Wash your hands. 
• Want to go back to your unit and hit the rack? Wash your hands. 
• Want your mail and packages? Wash your hands.

Basically, hand washing stations became checkpoints for all major actions throughout the day, and were especially inevitable around food. 

I like to say: “If you think about washing your hands, it’s time to do it.” 

“If you think about washing your hands, it’s time to do it.” 

That little mantra alone, coupled with the prevalent visual reminders, worked wonders to turn awareness into action.

Now apply all that to the typical child – it may take strapping a mobile sink to them as a front pack to achieve that level of consistency. But luckily, you can employ measures like washing hands every time you come home, or better, every time you leave a public place.

If your children are anything like mine, their hands and mouths make contact no less than 180 times per minute, and we want to minimize how much is transferred between the two in a BIG way – especially in the COVID season! 

Make hand washing the first step of setting the table or a prerequisite to opening the fridge for a snack. Spice up the soaps you keep at each sink in your home – my son has been asking to wash his hands since I put an exfoliating soap in the guest bathroom (4 year old boys love some sand)!

So hand washing – a simple tool in your tool box for bolstering children’s health. But you don’t have to take it from me. The Centers for Disease Control sums it with facts like these:

Handwashing:

• Reduces the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 31% 
• Reduces respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 16-21% 
• Handwashing with soap could protect about 1 out of every 3 young children who get sick with diarrhea and almost 1 out of 5 young children with respiratory infections like pneumonia
• Handwashing education and access to soap in schools can help improve attendance
• Good handwashing early in life may help improve child development in some settings

Handwashing may help improve child development?? Well, sign me up!! I’ll bring the soap! 

I loved this article written by my friend Mary and hope you did too. It’s a simple and practical way to stay healthy during this crazy season of our lives.

If you are running low on hand soap, may I suggest you add some to your Amazon cart:

Excuse me while I go wash my hands…