Health and hygiene: Public health

Concept of personal hygiene

• Personal hygiene is the degree to which people keep themselves clean and it varies from person to person.
• Hands should be washed after using a toilet, before eating and after coming home.
• Around 62% of British people wash themselves every day with people in London and Scotland being the cleanest with 68% bathing daily.

Behaviour relating to looking after one’s health

• Doing sports:
  • Playing sports helps in reducing body fat and controlling your body weight.
  • People usually run alone, often with headphones on and listening to music. Sometimes they run in pairs. Most common running hours are early morning, late afternoon and evening.
• Importance of a diet:
  • A good diet can help you to reach and keep a healthy weight, reduce risk of chronic diseases (like heart disease and cancer) and promote your overall health.
  • Traditional British diet is seen as unhealthy. It lacks wholegrain, nuts and fruits. According to the Lancet study, unhealthy diet causes one in seven deaths in Britain every year.
• Ways to combat stress:
  • Exercising - around 32% of British people use exercises to reduce their stress levels. It is most popular in Northern Ireland and among Londoners.
  • Watching television is one of the most popular ways to combat stress.
  • Young people usually pick listening to music as a way to combat stress.
  • Older people prefer going out for a walk to reduce stress level.