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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
4069.0: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - Board 3

Abstract #105530

Tobacco-free park policies: A walk in the park?

Elizabeth G. Klein, MPH1, Jean L. Forster, PhD1, Brittany McFadden, BA2, and Debra L. Weinreis, BS, MA3. (1) Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South 2nd Street, Ste 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454, 612-626-1799, klein_l@epi.umn.edu, (2) Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation & Initiative for Smoke-Free Apartments, Association for Nonsmokers-MN, 2395 University Ave. W, Ste 310, St Paul, MN 55114-1512, (3) Recreation Sports, Minnesota Recreation and Park Association, 200 Charles St NE, Fridley, MN 55432

Minnesota has a growing number of cities and counties with a tobacco-free policy in outdoor park grounds, beaches, and athletic facilities. To learn more about experiences in establishing such policies, researchers phone interviewed park and recreation directors, staff, and board members from across the state. Of the 452 individuals interviewed from 269 communities, 20% had successfully implemented tobacco-free park policies. Data will be presented on the attitudes and experiences of park representatives who manage parks with and without tobacco-free park policies. The majority of those representatives with no tobacco-free policies in place reported concerns about penalties for violators (73%), enforcement (90%), and lack of public interest in such policies (49%), among others. In contrast, those park representatives who implemented tobacco-free policies reported very few problems. Factors that contributed to successful implementation will also be reported. In a second study, a random sample of Minnesota residents was surveyed to assess public support for tobacco-free park policies. The mean response from the general public showed some or strong support for tobacco-free policies; specific reasons for support and opposition will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Tobacco Policy,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

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The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA