The Meaning of “Hygiene” and Its Linked Practices in a Low-Income Urban Community in Bangladesh

Rebeca Sultana (), Nazmun Nahar, Nadia Ali Rimi, Sayeda Tasnuva Swarna, Shifat Khan, Md. Khaled Saifullah, Humayun Kabir and Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen
Additional contact information
Rebeca Sultana: Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, Global Health Section, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
Nazmun Nahar: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
Nadia Ali Rimi: icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Sayeda Tasnuva Swarna: icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Shifat Khan: icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Md. Khaled Saifullah: icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Humayun Kabir: icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen: Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, Global Health Section, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-13

Abstract: Improving hygiene practices is considered to be the single most cost-effective means of reducing the global health burden of infectious diseases. Hygiene promotion and disease prevention interventions often portray and promote “hygiene” from a biomedical perspective, which may not be optimally effective for achieving their goal of changing people’s behaviors. This study aimed to educe the meaning of hygiene for the residents of a low-income community in Bangladesh and how that meaning shapes their personal hygiene practices. We conducted this study in the Tongi township in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from September 2014 to June 2016. The research team purposively selected 24 households. The team conducted day-long observations using the participant observation approach and in-depth interviews with specific members of the 24 households. The concept of “hygiene” had two separate meanings to the study participants: cleanliness and holiness. The participants reported that cleanliness was required to remove odors, grease, hot spices and dirt. The motivation for cleanliness was to feel fresh, avoid heavy feelings, feel light and feel comfortable. To maintain the holiness of the body, bathing and ablution needed to be performed following particular religious rules/rituals. The motivation of holiness was derived from their accountability to God. The participants also reported that the cleansing processes and methods for the body and the home for cleanliness reasons were also different from those for holiness reasons. The notion of “hygiene” was multidimensional for the residents of the low-income urban community in Bangladesh. Our study participants did not explicitly conceptualize a notion of hygiene that was based on the germ theory of diseases but rather a notion that was based on individual physical comfort and cultural belief systems. Future studies on the prevention of hygiene-related diseases should combine and link the biomedical aspect to religious and cultural rituals to promote improved hygiene practices.

Keywords: water; hygiene; diarrhea; perception; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9823/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9823/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:9823-:d:883999

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().