Manyhealthcareworkersknowthatwashinghandscanhelppreventthespreadofinfectiousdiseases. 1 DuringastudyconductedbyNicasandBest,theycountedthenumberoftimespeopletouchedtheirfacewiththeirhands. 2 Whetherweareawareofouractionsornot,mostofuscanagreethatwetouchourfacewithourhandsfrequentlyenough.
Imaginethatyouareabletorecordafulldayofyouractions.Betteryet,reflectonwhatyoudidwhenyouwokeupyesterdaymorning.Letmegiveyouanideaofmypreviousmorning.Iwaswokenbythealarmclockat6am. 3 ThenIcheckedmyphoneformessages,turnedontheTVformymorningnews,startedmakingmycoffeeandfinallytookashower.Itwasnteven5minutesfromthetimeIawokeandIalreadytoucheddifferentobjects.Thepointofthisistobeawarethateveninourhomesweareexposedtogermsinplaceswedontrealize.
Luckily,thehumanbodyhasamazingdefenseagainstharmfulgerms. 4 Ourwhitebloodcellsarelikesoldierscomingtotherescue.Unfortunately,therearealotofareasonourfacethatdonothavetheprotectionofskinsuchastheeyesandmouth.Theresreasonineverywiseproverbandourparentsaskingustowashourhandsbeforedinnerisnotfornothing.
5 Ifyouhavechildren,itisevenmoreimportanttosettheexamplebecausechildrenareknowntolearnfromadults.Letsstartagoodhabitofwashinghands.Asforyourfriends,dontbeshyaboutcheckingtomakesuretheirhandsareclean.Askingsomeoneiftheyhavewashedtheirhandsiscaring.Checkingtoseeifsomeonehaswashedtheirhandswillbenefitnotonlythatperson,butyouandyourfamily.
A.Ourskinisthefirstlineofdefense.
B.Severalminuteslater,Iturnedoffthealarmclock.
C.Itiseasyforustoadmitthatwewashourhandsregularly.
D.Theyaremoreself-awarethathandwashingshouldbepracticedasneeded.
E.Mostimportantly,itisourdutytosettherightexampleforfriendsandfamily.
F.Theyfoundthatthesubjectstouchedtheirface15.7timesperhouronaverage.
G.Dotherestofyourfamilymembers,especiallychildren,washtheirhandsregularly?
