Primrose Primary School children have been learning how to adopt good health practices.
This is thanks to Lifebuoy’s School of Five and Wrapper Campaign, which was launched in schools, recently.
The launch saw a dramatic increase in good health practices among primary school children, resulting in healthier pupils.
Unilever’s Lifebuoy brand ambassadors headed into 162 schools nationally, reaching more than 100 000 pupils with a project which encouraged them to adopt a new hand-washing habit within 21 days.
The campaign focused on children aged between six and 12 years, in Grades R to Four.
Brand manager of Lifebuoy William van der Westhuizen said: “The project reached not only the pupils, but their families and friends over the 21-day period.
“Lifebuoy is a trusted brand that has been used by South Africans for many years, and it has been actively involved in teaching good health practices and hand-washing habits in schools for a number of years.
“Good health practices and habits should not be taught and focused on only in winter; hand-washing with soap is an important factor in breaking the chain of infection in all seasons.
“The 21-day habit benefited pupils, as well as their parents.
“Improving their health conditions has a positive impact on family medical bills, too.”
He added that research has proven that a new habit can be adopted in just 21 days, which was ably demonstrated in schools around South Africa.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), diarrhoea and pneumonia combined are responsible for the deaths of millions of children under the age of five every year.
The majority of these deaths are linked to poor hygiene and lack of access to sanitation, but research has proved that the simple hygiene habit of washing hands with soap can reduce this figure by almost half.
Van der Westhuizen said: “Consumers at participating Spar stores were invited to purchase a bar of Lifebuoy and place their till slip in one of three entry boxes with names of schools in the community.
“Pupils at participating schools were also encouraged to collect Lifebuoy wrappers and place these in an entry box at their schools.
“The 51 winning schools could choose one prize from a selection of four options, namely a computer and printer, a colour printer, three whiteboards or a generator to the value of R10 000.
“School principals came on board, as they realised the importance of the campaign and its positive effect on school attendance.
“They were keen to help the children to adopt new habits and develop a healthy attitude towards hand hygiene.”
Marius Lotz, principal of Primrose Primary School, said that Lifebuoy’s School of Five and Wrapper Campaign made the pupils aware and enlightened them on hygienic hand-washing practices.
The prize chosen by his school was a colour printer.
He added that the printer will be installed in the media centre for the pupils to print colour copies from books, as well as from the internet; the pupils previously used a black and white printer in the media centre.
