Healthy life style practice and its associated factors among public servants in Fiche town, Ethiopia

Abstract

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.

Introduction

A healthy lifestyle is one that helps keep and improve health and well-being. Lifestyle includes daily routines that become habitual and affect physical and mental health [1–7 ]. It contributed to positive benefits throughout the life span of people living in various corners of the world. Besides controlling risk factors in lifestyle and healthy habits, healthy lifestyle practices can reduce early deaths by half [8]. Unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors were the cause of 60% of the morbidity and death of non-communicable illnesses. Millions of people have unhealthy lifestyles that can lead to disease, disability, and even death. An unhealthy lifestyle can lead to cardiovascular illnesses, hypertension, obesity, and other conditions [1].

Around 41 million peoples death annually in the world due to Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which is, equivalent to 71% of all deaths globally. Among NCDs, account for more than 80% of all premature NCD deaths include cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, and diabetes. There has been a surge in the burden of NCDs in sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades, driven by an increasing incidence of cardiovascular risk factors such as unhealthy diets and reduced physical activity [9].

The epidemiological shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases is occurring in many low- and middle-income nations. This hinders the development of their human capital and places an increasing financial strain on their societies. Although practicing a healthy lifestyle is important in preventing NCDs and saving the national economy, a considerable proportion of people are not practicing a healthy lifestyle [7]. Public servants are among the group of population that is less likely to practice a healthy lifestyle, which prone those to a higher risk of NCDs [8].

Moreover, although the impact of unhealthy lifestyles on people’s health and the national economy is documented, there is limited evidence on the level of health lifestyle practice and its associated factors among public servants. Ethiopia is among the setups where such information is scarce. Furthermore, there is no strong study that reported on the level of healthy lifestyle practice and its associated factors. Therefore, this study aims to determine the level of healthy lifestyle practice and its associated factors among public servants who are working in different public organizations in Fiche town, Ethiopia.

Methods

Study area and period

This study was conducted in Fiche town. Fiche town is the administrative city of North Shoa zone which is found Oromia region states, Ethiopia. It located at north to Addis Ababa on 114 km. The town has four kebeles, the smallest administrative branch, and a total of 50,040 estimated populations reside in the town. There are 42 public organization including banks. The total 1105 of public servants were working in government organization and 343 bank workers. The study was conducted from April 1–30, 2022.

Study design

Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted.

Population

All public servants who were working in public sectors and banks were included in this study. Thus, workers who were working in public organizations and in private were a study population of this study. Public servants who were on leave, seriously ill, and in long-term training during the data collection were excluded.

Sample size determination

The sample size was determined using a single population proportion sample size estimation method by assuming 50% of unhealthy lifestyle practice population proportion, 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error. The sample size was further increased by considering design effect 1.5 due to clustering nature of the public servants within the selected public organization related to healthy lifestyle practice. After considering 10% contingency samples for non-response rate. Then the total sample size was calculated to be 636.

Sampling procedure

Out of 42 public organizations and private banks; 21 organizations were selected by simple random sampling method. An individual participant was selected by proportionate systematic random sampling method by using a roster of participants name after 2 intervals. K calculated by the formula k = N/n. Where, k is the interval of inclusion, N the total public servants in the selected organization and n is the proportion of sample size in a given organization (Fig 1).

Fig. 1.

Schematic Presentation of the Sampling Procedure for the study on healthy life Style and its associated factors among public servants in Fiche Town, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2022

Data collection tools and procedures

Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire adapted from related articles [1, 2, 10–14]. To ensure the consistency of the questionnaires, the English version was translated into Afaan Oromo for data collection and retranslated into English by a professional language translator. The questionnaires contained questions on socio-demographic characteristics and healthy lifestyle. Data collectors were strictly supervised. At the end of each day, the questionnaire was reviewed and checked for completeness by the supervisors, who took corrections.

Data quality management

To ensure the data quality before starting data collection, the questionnaires were pretested in Dagam district town in order to checked questioners clearness, completeness and consistence. Then, after the necessary comments and feedback were incorporated, some modification was done in the final tool. The reliability of questionnaires for each variable was measured using the Cronbach’s coefficient alpha (0.79). The data was carefully entered and cleaned before the main analysis. The completeness and accuracy of the collected data were checked carefully on a regular basis. The data collectors were trained to facilitate data collection. The collected data could be checked every day by investigators for its completeness.

Data processing and analysis

The cleaned data was exported into the statistical package for social science (SPSS) in 26 versions for analysis. Descriptive statistics such as proportion, frequency, means, median, standard deviation, and range were used to describe the socio-demographic distribution. Binary logistic regression with a multilevel logistic regression model was computed to see the association between each independent variable and level of healthy lifestyle practice using crude odds ratio (COR) 95% CI. The model goodness-of-fit test was checked by the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit, and the p-value of the model fitness test was 0.87. Multi-collinearity and confounding effects were checked by using the standard error, which was not inflated, and no collinearity exists between the independent variables. Variables that had a p-value p < 0.25 in bivariate analysis were taken to multilevel logistic analysis in final models. Multilevel logistic regression model was computed to identify predictor variables associated with healthy lifestyle practice using an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% CI. Variables in the multilevel logistic analysis with a p-value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results

Socio demographic characteristics of public servants

A total of 630 respondents participated in this study, making a response rate of 99%. Out of these respondents, 219 (34.8%) were females. The age of the respondents ranged from 18 to 65 years. The mean age of the respondents was found to be 34.07 ± 7.4 years. The largest age group was 25–34 years, with a total of 330 respondents (52.4%). Regarding their marital status, the majority (63%) were married. Concerning the educational status, 44.8% had attended a degree and above. Out of the total study subjects, 33.5% had high wealth status, and 209 (33.2%) had less wealth status (Table 1).

Table 1.

The socio demographic characteristics of public servant respondents (N = 636)

Variable	Category	Frequency	Percent
Sex	Male	411	65.2
	Female	219	34.8
Age	18–24	40	6.3
	25–34	330	52.4
	35–44	190	30.2
	45–54	68	10.8
	55–64	2	0.3
Marital Status	Married	397	63.0
	Single	157	24.9
	Widowed	29	4.6
	Divorced	47	7.7
Educational status	No formal education	8	1.3
	Elementary school	16	2.5
	Secondary school	73	11.6
	Certificate	52	8.3
	Diploma	199	31.6
	Degree and above	282	44.8
Work experience	≤ 5	150	23.8
	6 to 10	258	41.0
	11 to 14	104	16.5
	≥ 15	118	18.7
Wealth index	High wealth index	211	33.5
	Medium wealth index	210	33.3
	Low Wealth index	209	33.2

Knowledge of public servant about health lifestyle

Four thousand forty-five (70.1%) of the respondents stated that they have gotten information about chronic non-communicable diseases and healthy lifestyles. From those, more than three-fourths (76%) were informed by health professionals. 344 (54.6%) knew about the difference between communicable and non-communicable diseases. Five hundred twenty-five (65.1% of the respondents) knew at least one risk factor that predisposes to chronic non-communicable diseases from choices of unhealthy diet, smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, and not doing physical exercise. 389 (61.7%) believe that non-communicable diseases can be prevented by practicing healthy lifestyles. In this study, 30.9% of participants perceived that they were at risk of developing CNDs, and of these, 76 (40%), 56 (29.5%), and 58 (30.5%) of them mentioned their reasons as avoiding heavy alcohol, unhealthy diet, and being physically inactive, respectively. Generally, 55.4% of the respondents had poor knowledge about healthy lifestyle practices.

Magnitude of healthy lifestyle measures among public servants

In this study, 45% of study participants had poor health lifestyle practices (Fig. 2). Among the study participants, fruit & vegetables, cereals & legumes, meat, and animal products were mentioned as common diets by 99 (15.7%), 319 (50.6%), and 92 (14.7%), respectively. Nearly one-third (31.1%) of the participants eat fruit and vegetables three times a week, and 92 (14.6%) didn’t eat any fruit and vegetables in a typical week. The major reasons mentioned for not eating fruits and vegetables at least once a week were that they are not easily available (6.3%) and their cost is high (8.1%). In this study, healthy diet participants who had a good healthy diet were 4 times more likely to have a good healthy lifestyle compared to poor health diet practice.

Fig. 2.

Shows health life style practice among public servant in Fiche town, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2022

In this study, 253 (40.2%) of the respondents were poor in physical activity. In this study, females had performed better physical activity (34.1%) than male respondents. Physical activity research shows that physical activity declines with age. In the study, the age group less than 40 years had better (34.6%) physical activity than those ages above 40 years of age. Among the study participants, only 92 (14.6%) of the participants practice regular physical exercise greater than 30 min per day for most of the days in a week (Table 2).

Table 2.

Frequency distribution of consuming fruits and vegetables, alcohol consumption and physical activity per day among public servants Fiche town, August 2022 (N = 636)

Variables	Frequency	Percentage
Frequency of consuming fruits and vegetables
Every day	121	19.2
Three times a week	196	31.1
Twice a week	25	4.0
Once a week	193	30.6
I do not eat	92	14.6
Others specify	3	0.5
Frequency of alcohol consumption at least one per day
Every day	95	15.1
1 to 3 per week	67	10.6
4 to 6 per week	70	11.1
Occasionally	50	7.9
Frequency of physical exercise in a minutes per day
Less than 10 min	137	21.7
10–20 min	84	13.3
20–30 min	63	10.0
Greater than 30 min	92	14.6

Four hundred twenty-four (52.2%) and 356 (44.1%) of the respondents (57.6% males) were ever alcohol consumers and current consumers, respectively. And more than half of the current alcohol consumers were 185 (52.1%) drink occasionally, 78 (21.8%) take alcohol at least once a week, and 46 (12.9%) drink on a daily basis. The most common type of alcoholic beverage consumed was beer, as reported by 56.5% of respondents, and 49 (13.8%) were local alcohol consumers. 190 (17.2%) of the study participants stated that they have consumed 4/5 drinks at a time at least once a week. This means 25.4% of males and 6.5% of females were binge drinkers. The proportions of ever smokers, current smokers, and ex-smokers were 63 (10%), 51 (8.1%), and 24 (4.4%), respectively. Out of the current smokers, 90.2% were daily smokers, 3.9% weekly, and the rest, 5.9%, were occasional smokers. The majority of current smokers, 31 (60.7%), smoke 10 or more cigarettes per day. Twenty-eight (54.9%) of current smokers have mentioned that they want to stop smoking, and about 34.1% were very concerned about the consequences of cigarette smoking. Smoking didn’t show an association with other independent variables.

Factors associated with healthy lifestyle among public servants

We conducted bi-variable logistic regression using a multilevel logistic regression model for every independent variable. For those variables with a p-value < 0.25 in the bi-variable logistic regression, they were taken to multivariable logistic regression with multilevel logistic analysis in the final models. Since all values were significant and had a p-value < 0.25 in bi-variable logistic regression with a multilevel logistic regression model, they were entered into multivariable logistic regression with a multilevel logistic regression model.

The results from the bivariate logistic regression indicate that males had more healthy lifestyle practice than females (COR: 1.37, 95% CI: 0.98–1.91). The odds of a healthy lifestyle increase with an increase in work experience: ≥15 years (COR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.40–1.12). A more healthy lifestyle practice was observed among middle wealth status groups (COR: 1.43, 95% CI: 0.97–2.10); a statistically significant trend was also observed among the higher wealth status groups (COR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.34–2.94) (Table 3).

Table 3.

Multilevel logistic model analysis among factors associated with healthy lifestyle among public servants (N = 636)

Variables		Healthy life style practice		COR (95%CI)	AOR 995%CI
		Poor	Good
Sex	Male	164(40.0%)	246(60.0%)	1.37 (0.98, 1.91)	1.52 (0.78, 2.81)
	Female	105(47.7%)	115(52.3%)	1
Marital status	Married	163(41.1%)	234(58.9%)	1
	Divorced	17(36.2%)	30(63.8%)	1.76 (0.82,3.77)	2.12 (0.89, 3.56)
	Single	73(46.5%)	84(53.5%)	2.17 (0.84,5.57)	2.45 (0.91, 4.64)
	Widowed	16(55.2%)	13(44.8%)	1.45 (0.64, 3.14)	1.67 (0.32, 2.89)
Occupation	Public Servants	119(49%)	124(51%)	0.58 (0.40,0.84)	0.62 (0.25, 1.45)
	Bankers	69(57.8%)	49(42.2%)	1
Work experience	≤5 years	56(37.3%)	94(66.7%)	1	1
	6–10 years	111(43%)	147(57%)	0.31(0.05,1.95)	0.76 (0.44,1.28)
	11–14years	53(16.7%)	51(83.3%)	0.94(0.60,1.46)	0.56 (0.29,1.13)
	≥ 15 years	49(41.5%)	69(58.5%)	0.68(0.40,1.12)	0.4 (0.27,0.78)*
Wealth index	High wealth status	73(34.6%)	138(76.4%)	1.90(1.34,2.94)	1.46 (0.76, 2.45)
	Medium wealth status	89(42.4%)	121(57.6%)	1.43(0.97,2.10)	1.12 (0.98, 3.78)
	Low wealth status	107(51.2%)	102(48.8%)	1
Source information	Yes	140(38.8%)	221(61.2%)	1
	No	129(48.0%)	140(52.0%)	0.69(0.50,0.96)	0.42 (0.09, 1.27)
Know CNCDs	Poor	126(68.1%)	59(31.9%)	1
	Good	146(32.1%)	302(77.9%)	4.51(3.12,6.5)	2.25(1.3,3.80)*
Avoid extra salt	Poor	220(56%)	173(44%)	1	1
	Good	49(47.2%)	188(52.8%)	2.43(1.54, 3.84)	2.43(1.54, 3.84)*
Knowledge	Not Sufficient	220(63.0%)	129(27.0%)	1
	Sufficient	49(17.4%)	232(82.6%)	8.07(5.54,11.77)	6.8(3.3,14.40)*
Attitude	Not favorable	113(75.6%)	36(24.4%)	1
	Favorable	156(32.4%)	325(67.6%)	6.54(4.29,9.96)	4.97(2.07,11.90)*

*Significantly associated p-value < 0.05

The result of multivariable logistic regression with the multilevel logistic regression model showed that participants who had more than or equal to 15 years’ work experience were 60% less likely to practice a good lifestyle than those who had ≤ 5 years’ work experience (AOR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.27–0.78). The study also showed that participants who had good knowledge of CNCDs had 2 times higher odds of practicing a healthy lifestyle compared to those who had poor knowledge of CNCDs (AOR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.3–3.8).

According to this study, participants who avoided extra salt were 2.43 times more likely to practice a healthy lifestyle than those who had not avoided extra salt (AOR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.54–3.84). On the other hand, the result of this study shows that participants who had good knowledge in practicing a healthy lifestyle were 7 times more likely to practice a good lifestyle as compared with poor knowledge (AOR = 6.8, 95% CI: 3.3–14.4). Similarly, the current study found that participants who had a good attitude about practicing a healthy lifestyle were 5 times more likely to have a good healthy lifestyle as compared to those who had a poor attitude (AOR = 4.97, 95% CI: 2.07–11.9) (Table 3).

The result obtained from multivariable logistic regression with the multilevel logistic model indicated that work experience AOR = 0.4, 95% CI (0.27–0.78); knowing about CNCDs AOR = 2.25, 95% CI (1.3–3.8); avoiding extra salt AOR = 2.43, 95% CI (1.54–3.84); knowledge AOR = 6.8, 95% CI (3.3–14.4); and attitude AOR = 4.97, 95% CI (2.07–11.9) were significantly related to healthy lifestyle practice in the final multilevel logistic regression model (Table 3).

Discussion

A healthy lifestyle is a valuable source of decreasing the prevalence and effect of health problems; promoting health, coping with stressors, and improving the quality of life [1, 6, 12, 14, 15]. Therefore, considering the effective role of public servants as valuable human resources in delivering services, this study was conducted to assess the healthy lifestyle practice and its association factors among public servants in Fiche town. This study revealed that work experience was significantly associated with healthy lifestyle practice. Participants who had work experience of more than or equal to fifteen years were less likely to practice a healthy lifestyle than those who had work experience of less than or equal to five. This finding was in line with the results of the studies in Hamadan (Iran) [3]. This could be due to the workers with more years of work experience tending to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle and high stress.

In the current study, avoiding extra salt was a factor that showed a significant association with healthy lifestyle practice. Participants who avoided extra salt had better healthy lifestyle practices than those who had not avoided extra salt. This finding was higher than a study done in Saudi Arabia, but this finding is lower than the finding of a study done in Jimma University Specialized Hospital (Ethiopia). In addition, a study done in the United States showed low salt diet practices among African Americans [3, 16]. This may be due to the socio-cultural practice of the community and the improvement in awareness creation on the respondents’ part towards these habits or practices.

This study found that 44.6% had sufficient knowledge regarding healthy lifestyle practice, which is similar to the study done on lifestyle modification practice in Hosanna, which was 44.9%, and the finding is higher than the study done in the Nigerian suburban community, which was 42% [17]. This might be the sample size and the study time, respectively.

The study revealed that participants who had sufficient knowledge in practicing a healthy lifestyle were more likely to practice a good lifestyle as compared with those who did not have sufficient knowledge. From the participants, 89.7% abstained from alcohol drinking. This is less than the study finding in Durame (Ethiopia) [18]. This could be due to social and cultural practices that discourage alcohol drinking and smoking.

The result of this study revealed that 76.3% had a positive attitude towards healthy lifestyle practice. while a study done in Kenya indicated that 41% of the respondents had not a positive attitude towards adopting healthier lifestyles [19]. The possible reason for having a higher proportion of respondents with a favorable attitude could be due to better sources of health information among study participants and differences in the scoring system.

In this study the percentage of respondents with good healthy lifestyle practice (57.3%) was higher than the respondents in Kenya, where 41% of them had good health lifestyle practices. The possible reason for the difference could be that in Kenya, the study only considered dietary practice and regular exercise as criteria to classify the respondents as having good or bad practice, but in this study, healthy diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical exercise were measured [19].

In this study, 8.09% of the respondents were current smokers, which were 97% males and 3% females, and this study was higher than the finding done among civil servants in Sidama Zone and less than the study done in Butajira, which was 4.4% and 12.8%, respectively. The possible explanation for the result in Butajira, the age range of the study subject was above 15 with more than therefore it is expected to be high among younger study populations, and the study in Sidama may be due to the difference in sample size & due to the time gap the two studies were carried out [20].

In the current study, 31 (0.04%) current smokers smoke 10 or more cigarettes per day. Twenty-eight (54.9%) of current smokers have mentioned that they want to stop smoking, whereas about 34.1% were very concerned about the consequences of cigarette smoking. This percentage was lower than the findings from studies conducted in Iran and Norway, which indicated that 2.8% of Iranian employees smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day, while the Norwegian study showed that 3.2% of smokers smoked more than 10 cigarettes daily [8]. This may be due to the urbanization and industrialization-related factors.

Results of our study revealed that only 76.7% of respondents consume less than the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables. This result is consistent with many other lower- and middle-income countries, such as Bangladesh, Mexico, and Thailand, where fruits and vegetables are produced mainly to export to other countries and which less than the study done in South Africa are. This may be due to the economic status of the country. In this study, only 19.2% of the respondents eat fruits and vegetables at least once a day, which is greater than the study in Addis abeba 14.6% didn’t eat fruit and vegetables within a week. This is somewhat similar to finding among bank employees and teachers in A.A., where one third of the participants reported no fruit & vegetable in their usual diet in a week (38). In this study, the cost (55.4%) and lack of availability (43.5%) were the two major reasons for not eating fruit or vegetables frequently.

Concerning alcohol consumption, 44.8% of the respondents were current alcohol consumers, and this was lower than the finding in Addis Ababa, where 61.9% of the study participants reported as being current alcohol consumers. From the participants, 89.7% abstained from alcohol drinking. This is less than the study finding in Durame (Ethiopia) [18]. This could be due to social and cultural practices that discourage alcohol drinking.

The study showed that the prevalence of binge drinking was 46.8%; this had a share of 29.9% males & 6.7% females. This is high when it is compared to the prevalence of binge drinking among adults in A.A., which was 10% in males & Malawi 19% in males & 2.3% in females (28, 46). This might be due to the prohibition of alcohol drinking in those big towns.

From this study, the majority of participants, 33.4%, drink daily, and 24.8% drink alcohol 4 to 6 times per week. The mean units of alcohol consumed on a day they used alcohol was 2.24 bottles (+ 1.13 SD).This result similar 32% in India [21] and higher in Malaysia [7]. Among the study participants, only 16.1% of the participants practice regular exercise for 30 min per day for most of the days in a week, which was lower than 89% and 43.7% physically active in studies done in India and Addis Ababa, respectively [18, 22]. A possible explanation could be a lack of organized setups that are favorable for exercise. A similar study done in Saudi Arabia showed that only 11.1% practiced physical activity most of the days in a week. Another study was done in the USA on African Americans that also showed the majority of the practiced physical activity that is higher than this study’s finding. This could be poor knowledge on the importance of physical activity in the management of chronic diseases.

The study found that 36.3. % of public servants had done physical exercise. This is better than the study done in Sidama zone which was found that 32.58% of civil servants had done physical exercise [20].

According to this study, participants who were public servants were found to be more physically active (33.6%) than bankers (30.3%) because the bank workers spent more hours sitting than the government employees. In this study, occupation had shown no statistically significant association with healthy lifestyle practice. In studies conducted independently, the odds of poor lifestyle practice were higher among the bank workers. In those studies it is explained that bankers’ workers were more stressed and sedentary.

In our study, respondents who were good at knowing CNCDs were 2-fold greater than those who were poor at knowing CNCDs. This is consistent with findings from studies conducted in Jimma and Pakistan [23, 24]. This may be associated with the fact that knowing the health benefits would motivate them to exercise regularly.

Therefore, from this study, 363 respondents (57.3%) were practicing the above four healthy lifestyle measures. This finding is lower than a study done in China and Saudi Arabia in which (70%) and (48.6%), respectively [16, 25]. This might be due to the level of their economy and level of awareness about healthy lifestyle practice and its advantages. This result showed that merely having good knowledge and a favorable attitude may not lead to one owns certain behavior changes in a healthy lifestyle, but additionally the reinforcing & enabling factors should be fulfilled.

Limitation

The nature of study design Self-reporting creates recall bias and tends to collect data on a limited number of variables at a single time point, which may not capture the complexity of the issue being studied. In cross-sectional study design, the exposure and outcome are simultaneously measured; there is generally no evidence of a temporal relationship between exposure and outcome, which could not enable the investigation of the cause-effect relationship. Cultural sensitivity, insufficient data collection on cigarette smoking habits, and the restricted generalizability due to the intricacies of the public sector are factors to consider. These limitations highlight the necessity for cross-section studies that can track changes over time and provide a clearer understanding of how smoking behaviors evolve and impact health outcomes. By addressing these gaps, researchers can develop more effective interventions tailored to diverse populations.

Conclusion

In general, it was studied that public servants in Fiche Town were not doing enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, it is crucial that public employees receive training and guidance on healthy lifestyle choices that might help them avoid chronic non-communicable diseases and early mortality. Regular health seminars, exercise regimens, and the availability of dietary materials are a few examples of such programs. The municipality may promote healthier behaviors among its public employees and eventually improve their well-being and productivity by creating a supportive workplace.

Abbreviations

AOR

Adjusted Odds Ratio

BMI

Body Mass Index

CI

Confidence Interval

CNCD

Chronic Non Communicable diseases

COR

Crude Odds Ratio

CVDs

Cardiovascular diseases

DALYs

Disability adjusted life years

DM

Diabetes Miletus

EDHS

Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey

FMOH

Federal Ministry of Health

HMIS

Health Management Information System

NCD

Non Communicable Disease

OR

Odds Ratio

QOL

Quality of life

SPSS

Statistical Package for Social Sciences

USA

United States of America

WHO

World Health organization

Author contributions

GHM- , data curation, formal analysis, investigation, funding acquisition, methodology, editing the manuscript; TE- conceptualization, data curation, writing a review, and editing the manuscript; BS- conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, resources, software, supervision; HHT- conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, resources, software, supervision, validation, visualization, writing a review, and editing the manuscript.

Funding

No funding.

Data availability

All research data found with authors.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was ethically approved by the Institutional Review Committee (IRC) of Salale University on March 20, 2022 (Ref. no. 885/2022). We obtained the informed written consent, ensuring the participant fully understood the study’s purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, and potential discomforts. Participants were assured that their involvement was voluntary and that they could withdraw from the study at any time. Individual responses (smoking status and alcohol consumption status) were maintained throughout the research process. Throughout the research process, we also implemented measures to ensure data security and integrity. All collected data was stored securely, and only authorized personnel had access to it, further safeguarding the participants’ privacy. Additionally, participants were encouraged to ask questions or express any concerns they might have during the study. This open line of communication fostered a sense of trust and cooperation, enhancing the overall quality of the research.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.