Table 1.

Evidence for the ability of specific hygiene practices to prevent diarrhoeal disease

	Specific behaviour	Biological plausibility	Risk modelling	Observational studies	RCTs
Handwashing with soap by carers	After own or child's toilet, before eating	Strong	Strong	Large effect	Large effect
Safe food handling	Food preparation, storage Weaning food preparation, storage	Strong Strong	Strong in developed countries Some	Inconclusive Inconclusive	No studies Inconclusive
Safe stool disposal	Use of toilets, nappies, potties	Strong	No studies	Large effect	No studies
Surface cleansing	Kitchen and toilet cleaning	Plausible	Reasonable in developed countries	Inconclusive	Inconclusive
Solid waste disposal	Burning, disposal service	Plausible	Limited	Large effect	No studies
Fly control	Insecticiding, trapping	Strong	Some	Large effect	Large effect
Removing animal faecal matter	Restricting contact with chicken, pig, cow, buffalo excreta	Plausible	No studies	Large effect	No studies

RCTs=randomised controlled trials.