Introduction: Some inappropriate cultural practices cause long-term diseases prevalent in childhood such as: acute respiratory, diarrheal, dermal and parasitic. Objectives: To describe and discuss the cultural practices of oral hygiene and hand washing in schoolchildren in a marginal urban area. Methodology: Qualitative research, with a descriptive approach, the scenario was the homes of schoolchildren aged 9 to 11 years, who reside in marginal urban areas of Ferreñafe, Peru; the sample was, 8 schoolchildren and 8 mothers, delimited by saturation and redundancy and non-probabilistic sampling selected by snowball. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and processed according to content analysis, applying triangulation of subjects, prior informed consent of the participants and approval of a Research Ethics Committee. Results: a) Cultural practices of oral hygiene and b) Cultural practices of hand washing. Conclusions: Participants know the correct procedure of oral hygiene and hand washing, key moments, use basic and cultural materials and recognize diseases caused by lack of healthy practices. Their assessment is necessary to achieve effective intercultural interventions. © 2022 Universidad de Alicante. All rights reserved.