Prioritizing Early Childhood Educators Health: Insights for Worksite Health Promotion Efforts.

Abstract

Background: Early childhood education (ECE) educators play an instrumental role in children's health and development but unfortunately have poor health themselves. This project examined the physical and psychological health of New York licensed ECE educators. Methods: A sequential, explanatory mixed methods design (quan→QUAL) consisted of a 110-item survey and semi-structured interviews to examine physical (diet, physical activity [PA], sleep, and body mass index [BMI]) and psychological health (stress and burnout). Quantitatively, multiple linear regressions tested associations between physical and psychological health, controlling for age and income, using R (v4.3.2, 2023); α < 0.05. Qualitatively, content analysis with pattern recognition for pragmatic synthesis was performed. Results: Survey respondents (n = 1423) and interview participants (n = 36) worked in a variety of ECE settings; 74% had overweight/obesity and 24% deemed themselves "unhealthy." Many had poor health behaviors-low diet quality (74%), limited regular PA (28%), poor sleep quality (34%), and moderate/high stress levels (74%). Most desired changes to health behaviors but were challenged due to work environments and job demands. Work-based factors impacted both their physical and mental health and influenced their personal life. Burnout and stress were high, and feelings of underappreciation were prevalent. Higher burnout (emotional exhaustion) was significantly associated with higher BMI (β = 0.18, p < 0.01) and stress (β = 1.09, p < 0.01) and lower PA (β = 2.62, p < 0.01) and sleep (β = 0.94, p < 0.01). Conclusion: ECE educators are experiencing high stress/burnout, have poor health behaviors, and have high prevalence of obesity. Workplace health promotion efforts are needed to improve educators' health and potentially that of the children in their care.