Children and COVID-19 Research Library

The lack of guidance related to healthy and clean behavior towards the community in the boarding school by primary healthcare workers, which has stopped since the Covid-19 pandemic era, has caused the need to identify the risk of diseases that often affect students. The study aimed to identify the clean and healthy living behavior of pupils in Islamic boarding schools. A survey method was conducted on 97 pupils of Nurul Huda Islamic boarding school in Bandung regency by using the questionnaire of PHBS (perilaku hidup bersih dan sehat). They were recruited to fill out 18 items of a questionnaire of clean and healthy behavior with a total sampling strategy.

Hand hygiene is one of the effective measures to prevent infectious diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease and COVID-19. Parents involvement as the child's first educator in establishing the child's sanitary behavior are crucial in nurturing good hand hygiene habit. This study aimed to assess parents' knowledge, attitudes, and practice on hand hygiene in relation to childcare during the endemic phase of COVID-19. This cross-sectional study involved parents of pre-school children from the Sepang district of Selangor, Malaysia. The parents were given a set of pre-tested, self-administered questionnaires about their knowledge, attitude, and practice of personal hand hygiene, hand hygiene practice while caring for children, and diseases caused by inadequate hand hygiene.

The COVID-19 pandemic drew hygiene to the center of disease prevention. The provision of adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services is crucial to protect public health during a pandemic. Yet, access to levels of water supply that support adequate hygiene measures are deficient in many areas in Nepal. We examined WASH practices and their impact on child health and nutritional status in two districts before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A longitudinal and mixed method study was conducted in March–May 2018 and November–December 2021. In total, 715 children aged 0–10 years were surveyed at baseline. Of these, 490 children were assessed at endline. Data collection methods included observations, a questionnaire, stool analysis, anthropometric measurements, water quality analysis, and an assessment of clinical signs of nutritional deficiencies. We conducted 10 in-depth interviews to understand major problems related to COVID-19.

The control of COVID-19 among children is mainly dependent on preventive strategies including proper use of facemask s, hand hygiene etiquette and social distancing. Despite ongoing risk communication, it is not clear how children understand COVID-19 and the control measures. We described children's understanding of COVID-19 transmission and the preventative strategies in Uganda. This cross-sectional study was conducted between July and September 2020, among a random sample of 372 children (10 to 13 years) in Hoima district. It collected data using a structured questionnaire and observation checklists to elicit information on children's knowledge on COVID-19 transmission, its symptoms, preventive strategies and also their practices on handwashing and wearing a facemask. Descriptive analysis was conducted to summarize and describe children's knowledge and performance of COVID-19 preventive strategies.

Knowledge about handwashing is important as an effort to prevent Covid-19 in children. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of handwashing with soap (CTPS) counseling on children's knowledge and attitudes in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic. This research was designed as a quasi-experimental approach with a pre-test,post test group design approach. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling. The sample for the study consisted of children aged 12 to 14 years, for a total of 30 people.The instrument used was a questionnaire with a meter using the Guttman scale. The data were analyzed using a statistical test (Wilcoxon test). The results of this study showed that based on the statistical test results of the ranking test signed by Wilcoxon, a p-value = 0,000 was obtained, which means that the p value is less than 0,05. There was an effect of counseling on handwashing with soap (CTPS) on the knowledge and attitudes of MTS class VII students.

The use of hand sanitizers has been one of the key public health measures recommended to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic. As such, its daily use among the general population has reportedly increased dramatically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the impact of this recommendation, hand sanitizer use, including the frequency and amount handled, was examined among adults in a non-occupational setting and children in both the home and school/childcare settings.

Medical and public health research supports an ongoing need for health promotion in meeting menstrual hygiene needs, including menstrual hygiene management (MHM) education and the adoption of reusable sanitary napkins. This quality improvement project focuses on menstruation education for adolescent girls in rural Tamil Nadu, India and the promotion of reusable sanitary napkins. Results indicate a significant improvement in MHM knowledge, confidence in managing menstruation, adoption of reusable sanitary napkins, and a decrease in missed school days. These findings support global recommendations for health promotion in India.

The aftershocks of COVID-19 threaten to undo decades of development gains across the Pacific region. World Vision surveyed 752 households in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu between July and December 2020 to gather first-hand accounts of the impacts of COVID-19 and its aftershocks on communities, families and their children. The findings highlight the human cost of the severe economic recession that has befallen the broader Pacific region since the pandemic, laying bare the region’s vulnerability to future shocks, stresses, and uncertainties.

The COVID-19 pandemic is significantly impacting the provision of vital health, nutrition, education, child protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to women and children. UNICEF is conducting quarterly surveys to better understand the level of disruption to essential services for women and children, the reasons for these disruptions, and government response measures. This brochure provides an overview of the findings from the past three survey rounds and reveals that all countries – not only those with ongoing humanitarian response – continue to face some severe service disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and response.

Community attachments are thought to promote adolescents’ engagement in public health behaviors. To date, past research has exclusively examined the social benefits of community attachments among adolescents in the United States and less is known about these benefits among youth in low-income adolescent-dense countries such as Pakistan. The present study examined associations between Pakistani adolescents’ community attachments and COVID-19 public health behaviors, including social distancing, disinfecting, hoarding, news monitoring. Adolescents living in Pakistan (N = 1,110; 13–18 years; M = 16.70) reported on their COVID-19 public health behavior (social distancing, disinfecting behaviors, hoarding behaviors, news monitoring) and community attachments (social responsibility values, social trust, self-interest values).

While it is well know that the pandemic and its social isolation, loss of school experiences, increased screen use, and financial stress have likely had a psychological impact upon children and teens, little research has been done directly with youth to assess social and emotional factors during the pandemic and in its immediate aftermath. In this study, a sample of 240 youth reported on their experiences with bullying, fighting, sexting, cyberbullying, anxiety, and depression during the period from March 2020 to April 2021.

The “Promoting safer hygiene practices for women and girls to remain safe and live better lives project has been implemented between the 23rd of July 2020 and the 31st of August 2021 through CARE International in Jordan and funded by Unilever-UKAID HBCC (Hygiene Behaviour Change Coalition). The project’s overall objective was to support the most vulnerable women and girls in conflict communities, refugee, asylum and host populations within the Syrian crisis region to improve their key hygiene behaviours and be better equipped to protect themselves from COVID-19 transmission through mass awareness, interpersonal communication and digital media communication.