Wednesday, January 27, 2010

hand washing

i had my first bio class yesterday and i actually think im going to like it! my prof talked about some interesting, real-world things that actually mean something to me! one thing that really stood out was when he started talking about immunizations, germs, how we handle this, etc. he talked about how parents today try to protect their kids from EVERYTHING...not letting them go outside and get dirty, constantly wiping them with wipes or purell, never wanting them to fall down or get a bruise..basically trying to protect them from anything and everything. anyway, he actually said that this is causing more harm than good and that kids today have weaker immune systems with all of this fussing. he actually said that kids should be exposed to many different environments and many different things in their first years of life so that they can build up a good immune system early on (obviously this is within reason...he is not advocating dirty unsanitary kids either).......aaaannyyywayy..the reason for this little rant about germs and health and all is that one thing he said really caught my attention and i was even reminded of it today so i thought i would share! he said that the most important thing we can do to keep from getting sick and germy is to wash our hands. clearly i already knew that part...but then said that just "washing" is not enough--we have to wash correctly. i was like, come on dude i know how to wash my fricken hands, im almost 25 years old!! BUT i think i was wrong!! he said that most adults dont even do it correctly! he also said that in studies they have found ppl are more likely to wash their hands when others are present, but skip it when they are alone. also that the average length of time an adult washes their hands is 3 seconds...what the!?? he said that it has been shown that the proper length of time when washing your hands is singing happy birthday two times through (works in any language apparently). so, as i was washing my hands today this came to mind and so i sang happy birthday twice through in my head to test it out.....WHAT THE HECK!? that is SO long. omg, am i gross?? i dont think i ever wash that long.....i mean..unless im in the shower :) AWKWARD! guess i need to work on that.....how about you??

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