Colgate: Changing habits

The Colgate Night Brushing Challenge targets school children between classes 1- 6, across 150 schools in Hyderabad.

Colgate-Palmolive has launched an on-ground activity in schools to inculcate the habit of night-brushing among children.

The seven-week long campaign, launched along with The Times of India NIE edition, is called the Colgate Night Brushing Challenge. It targets school children between classes 1 - 6, across 150 schools in Hyderabad.

The idea behind conducting the campaign is to create an awareness about the benefits of brushing one's teeth at night. In India, people brush their teeth religiously each morning, brushing at night is not much of a habit. According to a recent survey conducted by Colgate Palmolive, 95 per cent of the people brush in the morning, while only 28 per cent claim to brush twice a day.

Most people believe that brushing in the morning is enough. On the contrary, germ build-up at night is more than during the day. Also, the germs that remain in the mouth overnight produce an acid which can lead to tooth decay. Therefore, to highlight the importance of brushing at night, especially among children, the company introduced the challenge.

Says Rajesh Krishnamurthy, vice president, marketing, Colgate Palmolive India, "As the leaders in oral care, it is our objective to inculcate good oral care habits among Indians. Our night brushing initiative is aimed at educating consumers, including children, about the importance of brushing at night and inculcating the right oral care habits in them. We hope that with initiatives like these, we can progress in our ambition of taking India towards zero tooth decay."

Students will be educated on the benefits of night brushing and will be asked to take a pledge to brush their teeth every night. They will be provided with a night brushing calendar which will be validated by the respective parents who will then sign this calendar every night.

The children will also spread this message of night brushing amongst their friends and family and get them to pledge as well. At the end of this campaign, children who have performed both the above tasks will be given awards. Schools with the top performers will be felicitated through an event.

Some of the participating schools from Hyderabad are Delhi Public School, Roots Montessori, Manipal Academy, Sacred Heart Convent, Sadhu Vaswani International School and Loyola Schools.