Background
Physical activity is any body movement produced by skeletal muscles that require energy expenditure. Popular ways of physical activity to be active include walking, cycling, wheeling, sports, active recreation and play. It can be done at any level of skill and for enjoyment by everybody. Globally, one in four adults does not currently meet the recommendations for physical activity stated by WHO.1 About 40% of adults in Africa were physically inactive.2 3 In Ethiopia, physical inactivity accounts for only 6% of the general population.4 5 However, less than 50% of Ethiopian civil servants fulfilled WHO recommendations for physical activity.6 7
Physical activity can be affected by demographic, cultural, psychological, behavioural, biomedical and environmental factors.8 Studies suggest that female respondents perform low physical activity compared to male respondents9–11; similarly, older aged and higher income was not met recommended physical activity.9 12–14 The lower level of perceived severity, perceived benefit, self-efficacy and cues to action were also factors for physical inactivity.13 15–19
Studies recommended regular physical activity to prevent and control non-communicable disease (NCD) related morbidity and mortality.1 20 21 However, population groups, like civil servants, tend to be less physically active.6
Physical inactivity was responsible for economic loss (accounts for 1%–3% of national healthcare costs),22 and it is also associated with NCDs, which caused 71% of global deaths, 22% of African premature adult deaths and 39% of all Ethiopian deaths in 2016.23 24
In Ethiopia, disease epidemiology is becoming a double burden (communicable and non-communicable).25 26
Sustainable development goal was set to reduce premature mortality from NCDs through prevention and treatment by one-third by 2030.27 Additionally, the Ethiopian health sector transformation plan and national strategic action plan for prevention and control of NCDs target to reduce NCD-associated morbidity and mortality.28 29
Practising moderate and/or vigorous physical activity plays a crucial role in achieving these targets, especially for civil servants, due to their routine work.
In Ethiopia, some studies assessed the prevalence and factors of physical activity among general populations.4 6 30 However, limited studies addressed the physical activity statuses of civil servants, especially in the study area. Moreover, none of those studies identified behavioural factors using the behavioural model as a conceptual framework. Therefore, this study assessed physical activity practice and identified behavioural factors using Health Belief Model (HBM) among civil servants.