Physical activity promotion in primary health care in Brazil: a counseling model applied to community health workers.

Background: The aim of this study was to describe a methodology for training to provide counseling on physical activity among community health workers working within primary healthcare in Brazil.

Methods: This was an intervention study conducted with 65 community health workers in the Ermelino Matarazzo district in the São Paulo, Brazil (30 in intervention group). The intervention group received a course of 12 hours (with 4 meetings of 3 hours each in 1 month) that aimed to improve their knowledge and be autonomous with regard to promoting physical activity.