March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 26

Research Update
Outdoor Smoke-Free Policy Development
and Enforcement in Parks
By Megan Owens

moke-free park areas are quickly becoming an expected feature for
many agencies. Each year, park and recreation agencies establish policies restricting smoking and other tobacco use in outdoor venues in
order to combat a variety of health issues such as asthma, heart disease
or lung cancer, as well as to address agency concerns related to tobacco litter.
According to a recent survey in Illinois, agencies were more likely to establish
smoke-free zones within their parks rather than designating an entire park property as smoke-free. This article explores the survey results regarding smoke-free
policies among Illinois parks and recreation agencies and provides insight into
the variability of policy development, coverage and enforcement.
Study Background
In response to an increase in inquiries
about smoke-free parks, the Office of
Recreation and Park Resources (ORPR)
within the Department of Recreation,
Sport and Tourism at the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, conducted a survey of park properties for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that included close-ended questions
about outdoor smoke-free park policy
status, development and implementation. In 2014, this survey was mailed
to all 524 identified agencies statewide
and yielded a 65 percent response rate

for these questions. Respondents included 208 park districts, 119 municipalities
and 16 forest preserves. Illinois' public
park system includes both special taxing districts (i.e., park districts and forest preserves) and parks and recreation
departments within municipal government structures such as villages, cities or
townships.
Policy Prevalence
Only 42 percent of agencies had a
formal outdoor smoke-free policy for
their park system. Further analysis
of this finding revealed park districts

were equally split on this issue, whereas most municipal and forest preserve
agencies had not established a policy.
The number is slowly increasing, as
more agencies have enacted a policy since this survey was conducted.
Nonetheless, agencies were less likely
to have a policy that covered entire
parks, as indicated in the below figure.
Only 21 percent of agencies enacted
a smoke-free policy for whole parks.

Figure 1: Prevalence of
Agencies with Completely
Smoke-Free Parks (n=324)

City/Village
5%
Park District
16%
Yes
21%

No
79%

Agencies were more likely to designate specific park areas as smoke-free
but the coverage areas varied across the
respondents. The results indicated three
types of park areas were commonly covered in the policy: playgrounds, pools
and youth athletic fields. Youth and
families frequently use these venues,
which suggests overall support for limiting smoking and tobacco use around
youth to protect their health and wellness. Results also indicated that smokefree park policies were less likely to cover areas used by adults. These findings
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March 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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