How Clean Habits Keep You Healthy (And What Happens If You Ignore Them)

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the absence of disease. Hygiene means the practices that help maintain health and prevent disease, mainly by keeping ourselves and our surroundings clean. Personal hygiene is about the habits each person follows to keep their own body clean, such as bathing daily, brushing teeth, washing hands before meals, and wearing clean clothes. Community (or public) hygiene refers to the cleanliness and health practices that a group of people follow together, like keeping public places clean, proper disposal of garbage, and ensuring clean drinking water for everyone. For example, washing your hands after using the toilet is personal hygiene, while making sure your neighbourhood has covered drains is community hygiene. A common misconception is thinking that only personal hygiene matters; in reality, both personal and community hygiene are necessary to prevent diseases.

Diseases can be classified as communicable (infectious) or non-communicable. Communicable diseases are caused by germs and can spread from one person to another, while non-communicable diseases do not spread between people. Non-communicable diseases include deficiency diseases, genetic diseases, metabolic disorders, allergies, and degenerative diseases. Deficiency diseases happen when the body lacks certain nutrients, such as scurvy (lack of vitamin C), rickets (lack of vitamin D), and goitre (lack of iodine). Genetic diseases are caused by problems in genes, like haemophilia and thalassemia. Metabolic disorders affect how the body uses food, such as diabetes. Allergies are when the body reacts strongly to harmless things, for example, asthma. Degenerative diseases involve the gradual breakdown of body parts, like cataract in the eye. In real life, a person who does not get enough vitamin D may develop rickets, which makes their bones soft and weak. Many students wrongly believe that all diseases can spread, but non-communicable diseases cannot be passed from one person to another.

The four main groups of disease-causing germs are bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and worms. Each group can cause different communicable diseases. Bacteria are single-celled organisms; for example, typhoid is caused by bacteria. Viruses are even smaller and can only multiply inside living cells; the common cold is caused by a virus. Protozoa are tiny, animal-like organisms; malaria is caused by a protozoan. Worms are larger parasites that can live in the intestine or other parts of the body; tapeworm infection is an example of a disease caused by worms. For example, if someone drinks water contaminated with the protozoan that causes malaria, they can get the disease. It is important to remember that not all germs are harmful, but the ones that cause diseases are called pathogens.

Communicable diseases spread through various modes: air, contaminated water and food, direct contact, and insect vectors. Airborne diseases spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes, releasing germs into the air—for example, the common cold. Diseases can also spread by drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food, such as cholera. Direct contact with an infected person or their belongings can spread diseases like ringworm. Insect vectors, such as mosquitoes and houseflies, carry germs from one place to another; mosquitoes spread malaria, while houseflies can spread typhoid by sitting on food. Prevention methods include vaccination, drinking safe water, proper disposal of waste, and controlling vectors by using mosquito nets and keeping surroundings clean. For example, boiling water before drinking can kill germs and prevent diseases like typhoid. A common mistake is thinking that only dirty water spreads disease, but germs can also spread through air and insects.