BACKGROUND: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is essential to lowering the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Living a healthy lifestyle reduces the likelihood of developing a severe illness or passing away too soon. Public officials frequently lead unhealthy lifestyles because they are time-pressed and face many challenges that could negatively impact their health. However, there is limited evidence on the level of healthy lifestyle practice and factors associated with unhealthy lifestyle practice among public servants.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess healthy lifestyle practice level and associated factors among public servants working in Fiche Town, Oromia, Ethiopia.
METHODS: From April 1 to 30, 2022, 630 public servants participated in an institutional-based cross-sectional study. A self-administered, structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. The data were entered into Epi-Data version 4.6 and then exported to SPSS version 26 for analysis. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages, mean, and standard deviation were used to summarize the data. Variables that scored a p-value of less than 0.2 during the bivariate analysis were included in multilevel logistic regression. The odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was estimated at the level of significance set at 0.05.
RESULT: The study participants in Fiche town public servants' poor health lifestyle were 45.2% with a 95% confidence interval (CI) (41.4, 49.4). The study participants had a poor attitude (23.7%), poor health lifestyle knowledge (55.4%), and poor physical activity (40.2%). The study participants who exhibited a poor attitude, lacked healthy lifestyle knowledge, engaged in insufficient physical activities, avoided extra salt in their diet, and were aware of chronic non-communicable diseases were significantly associated with practicing a healthy lifestyle.
CONCLUSION: Generally, maintaining a healthy lifestyle among public servants in Fiche Town was found to be inadequate. Consequently, it is essential that public servants receive education and counseling on the recommended healthy lifestyle practices that could assist them in preventing chronic non-communicable diseases and premature death. Such initiatives could include regular health workshops, fitness programs, and access to nutritional resources. By fostering a supportive environment, the town can encourage its public servants to adopt healthier habits, ultimately enhancing their well-being and productivity.
