Assessment of the lifestyle and emotional health of community health workers

Introduction: Community health workers (CHWs) play a key role in promoting health at the community level; however, their own health behaviors, including diet, are often overlooked. Objective: Analyze the of the lifestyle and emotional health of community health workers. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional and analytical study conducted in the Northern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data were collected online between July and August 2020. We evaluated factors associated with the dietary patterns of 1220 CHWs. Poisson regression was used to calculate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for unhealthy eating habits and associated variables. Results: The prevalence of unhealthy food consumption was 44.7%. This behavior was more frequent among CHWs aged ≥40 years (PR=1.34), with over 11 years of education (PR=1.17), lower income (PR=1.35), and among those who reported limited or no availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) (PR=1.20). Higher prevalence was also observed in CHWs with depression (PR=1.16), anxiety (PR=1.26), sedentary lifestyle (PR=1.16), and weight gain (PR=1.53). Conclusions: There is a high intake of ultra-processed and energy-dense foods among CHWs. Promoting healthy lifestyle education for CHWs is essential to ensure their well-being and effectiveness in delivering primary care within the Family Health Strategy (FHS), as the caregiver's health directly impacts their capacity to care for others.