Poor hygiene and bullying victimization in Pakistan

This study examined the association between hygiene and bullying victimization among a representative sample of 4997 students in Pakistan from the Global School Health Survey. Sample characteristics based on population estimates and adjusted and unadjusted prevalence ratios were computed using Poisson regressions. Results indicate that after accounting for demographic and confounding factors, students with good hygiene were less likely to experience bullying victimization when compared to students with poor hygiene. This is because, we theorize, poor hygiene elicits disgust for two reasons: the fear of infectious diseases and class differences. The study findings highlight that poor hygiene is not only directly related to poor health due to higher exposure to infectious diseases as demonstrated by extant research, but it is related to higher risk of experiencing bullying victimization, highlighting a link between two structurally produced social problems, poor hygiene and bullying, that are often seen as individual and interpersonal ones.