More than half of parents admit it’s a battle to get their children to wash their hands

A poll of 2,000 mums and dads of 3–16-year-olds has found they struggle to get their youngsters to wash their hands before eating, after school and even after using the toilet.
During the typical day, parents wash their hands eight times, while kids only do it six times.
But more than a fifth of kids only wash their hands up to three times a day.
On a usual day at home, parents predict their child touches the most surfaces around the home just after lunchtime at 1pm.
At this time, kids get their dirty mitts on the toilet flush, fridge door and door handles as they race around at lunch.
The study, commissioned by hand hygiene experts Carex, found a quarter of parents aren’t completely sure they’ve even taught their children how to wash their hands properly.
To add to the family chaos, as many as three in 10 parents struggle to get their children to brush their teeth while 24 per cent said washing their child’s hair is often a battle.
Following the findings, presenter, singer and mum to three young boys, Kimberley Walsh opened the doors of her family home to microbiological expert, Dr Jonathan Cox to reveal how many surfaces her little ones (Bobby, 7, Cole, 5 and Nate eight months) touch in the space of an hour.
An swab of items, including the kitchen sink taps, banisters and doorknobs, found varied types of bacteria, ranging from normal, harmless skin bacteria to those we would normally expect to find in our gut.
Dr Jonathan Cox, senior lecturer in microbiology at Aston University, who conducted the tests of Kimberley’s home, said: “Like every warm, humid environment, our homes are full of bacteria.
“Almost all of them won’t do us any harm at all and it’s very usual to find them in family homes.
“But it’s best that we don’t