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New research reveals 62% of Brits admit to not washing their hands every time before eating.
Washing your hands is the best way to keep this winter’s colds and flu at bay – yet shockingly only a third (38%) of us wash our hands every time before eating. That’s despite three quarters (74%) of us claiming the best way to prevent a cold or flu is by regularly washing our hands, according to new research published today.
Even more worryingly, 90% Brits are choosing to blame others lack of hygiene for the spread of germs, rather than taking the necessary preventative actions. It seems the younger generation are suffering as a result of our lack awareness around the importance of preventatives, with nearly 22 million school days lost due to the common cold alone .
With the cold and flu season just around the corner, and 22 million school days lost to the common cold alone, Dettol has launched a new science led programme in schools called “Handy Helpers”.
The 5-week experiment aims to educate children on the impact of spreading germs, teaching students simple, achievable steps to help break the cold and flu cycle. By helping to encourage handwashing from a young age, it’s hoped sick days in schools could be reduced by 1%.
As part of the Handy Helpers Programme, all participating schools will receive educational materials produced in collaboration with the National Schools Partnership, as well as an ample supply of Dettol handwash to encourage students to put learning into practice! Fun and interactive homework packs will help students to filter healthy hygiene habits into the home.
Fifteen schools across Britain are taking part in the controlled study, which runs until the 21st of December.
Additional information:
- 75% of Brits think that schools and nurseries are the most germ ridden place where kids are most likely to catch and spread cold and flu.
- 85% of Brits consider themselves health conscious, while 15% admit to not being health conscious enough.
- Brits wrongly believe that sneezing and coughing without covering your mouth is the top reason colds are transferred (78 percent). Breathing germs in the air came in second (64 percent), and not washing hands was third (61 percent).
- Only 42 percent of people are meticulous about their handwashing, while 53 percent say they use soap quickly and rinse – despite washing hands being seen as the top preventative action against cold & flu (74 percent)!
- 42% of Brit’s think the kitchen is the most germ-ridden room of the house, the bathroom came in second at 33%.
- Over 1/3 of people believe that taking preventative measures makes no real difference to catching cold and flu.
- Staying hydrated is considered the top cure for a cold (74 percent), followed by medicine (46 percent) and hot drinks (41 percent).
