The word hygiene is derived from the name of the ancient Greek goddess of healthful living-Hygeia. Hygiene refers to the practices associated with the protection of health and healthy living1 . Poor health hygiene practices can lead to communicable diseases basically within developing countries. In Africa and Southeast Asia, 62% and 31% of all deaths are caused by infectious disease2 . School is place which not only provides education to children but also learning environment. The foundations of lifelong responsibility for the maintenance of personal hygiene are laid down in childhood, which is important for a healthy childhood, for a healthy adulthood, and for the development of positive values about health and the use of health services3 . It’s important to educate the students regarding personal hygiene in order to improve the quality of life of the children.  Objectives 1. To assess the general health status of the school children 2. To evaluate the effectiveness of video assisted teaching and demonstration on personal hygiene among school children.  Methods A pre-experimental study was conducted in Government high school, Puducherry after obtaining prior permission. The seventy-three students of sixth standard were selected and general health assessment was done. The knowledge on personal hygiene were assessed using structured interview questionnaire. Collected data were entered in the Microsoft Excel 2013 and analyzed using Epi Info 7.0.  Results The mean age of the school children are 10.8 ± 0.6 years, the mean weight was 29.8 ± 6.7 kilo grams, the mean height was 138.7 ± 6.5 centimeters. 8.2% and 6.9% of them had past medical and surgical history respectively. Only one girl attained menarche. Degree of malnutrition was calculated based on the weight for age by weech’s formula and classified by Gomez classification. 36.9% of the children are having second degree malnutrition, 34.3% are having first degree malnutrition, 1.4% are having third degree malnutrition and 27.4% are maintaining normal nutritional status. 17.8% of the children are having vision problems. 12.3% are having dental carries. Two children are using spectacles. The pale conjunctiva was observed among 49.3% of the children. 95.9% of them are immunized up to the age. The knowledge on personal hygiene was assessed in both pre and post teaching. The mean pre teaching knowledge score was 8.13 ± 2.4 and post teaching knowledge score was 9.93 ± 2.3. the pre and post mean different was calculated with paired t-Test and the tvalue is -8.69 (p = <0.001) reveals that the video assisted teaching and demonstration was effective.  Conclusion This study concludes that the video assisted teaching and demonstration was effective in improving the knowledge on personal hygiene among school children. Improved knowledge may change the attitude of the schoolchildren and that may lead to a better hygienic practice. This study suggests to have regular teaching and training programme to improve the hygienic practices among school children.

Keywords : School Children, Personal Hygiene, Video Assisted Teaching, Demonstration, Effectiveness.