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TOBACCO-FREE PARKS:
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TOBACCO-FREE PARKS:
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What is the Tobacco-Free
Youth Recreation Initiative?
Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation (TFYR) is
a proogram of the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota (ANSR). TFYR's mission is
to assist recreational organizations in their efforts to create a
tobacco-free environment
where they can
promote and model tobacco-free lifestyles. This is accomplished by helping
these recreational organizations partner with local health professionals in
their community to implement a recreation-based tobacco prevention strategy.
What’s New?
Mini-Grant
Funding Opportunity for Metro-Area Youth Groups
Tobacco-Free Youth
Recreation (TFYR), announces mini-grant funding for youth-led, adult-guided
groups to partner with TFYR in the counties of Carver, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott,
and Washington to pursue comprehensive tobacco-free policies for outdoor
recreation areas.
The focus of this program is for TFYR and youth groups to form a partnership to
create and promote outdoor tobacco-free environments in public park land such as
playgrounds, athletic fields, picnic areas, golf courses, beaches, fair grounds,
and campgrounds. Park land could be city, county, regional, or privately-owned.
A maximum request of $1,000 per application will be considered, assuming the amount requested is justified by the submitted action plan, and the group sees the project through to completion. Up to five youth groups will be funded in 2007. (An application packet is available)
Sports-related Tobacco Prevention Posters Available through
MPRC
TFYR has teamed up with the
Minnesota Department of Health's Tobacco-Free Sports program and the Minnesota
Prevention Resource Center (MPRC) to offer sports-related tobacco prevention
posters. These include the 2005 Minnesota Thunder "Fast, Furious, Strong and
Tobacco-Free" poster, the Minnesota Twins Torii Hunter "Choose not to Chew"
poster and the Minnesota Wild “Our Only Addiction is the Game” poster.
You can order them through the MPRC. The posters are free to Minnesota residents!
You only have to pay the shipping cost. These posters are great for school classrooms,
gymnasiums, community centers, youth recreational organizations and special
events. Download our
Tobacco-Free Sports
Poster Order Form for more information.
(Minnesota orders only, please.)
Study Reveals Minnesotans Support
Tobacco free Park Policies
Minnesota residents support tobacco-free park and recreation policies.
This is a finding of the recently-completed Tobacco-Free Park and Recreation
Study (TFPRS) carried out by the University of Minnesota.
A summer 2004 survey
of Minnesota residents – from both the metro area and greater Minnesota –
revealed that 70% of Minnesota adults support tobacco-free park and recreation
areas. In addition, two-thirds of golfers and nearly three-quarters (73%) of
families with children support these policies. The study even revealed that 28%
of smokers support these policies.
The TFPRS also investigated the experiences of park directors and park board members in adopting tobacco-free park and recreation policies. Interviews were conducted with 452 of these individuals, representing the 200 largest Minnesota cities, all Minnesota counties with county parks, and all Minnesota cities with existing tobacco-free park policies. In communities where tobacco-free park and recreation policies have already been adopted, an overwhelming majority (88%) of park directors and board members reported the policies were not very difficult to pass. Study findings also revealed several positive observations after the policies were implemented: 88% reported no change in park usage, 71% reported less smoking in parks, and 58% reported cleaner park areas.
Park directors and park board members also offered insight on enforcement and compliance of tobacco-free park policies. While most directors in communities with no tobacco-free policy had concerns about enforcing policies, only one-quarter of directors in communities with policies actually reported having compliance issues.
The Tobacco-Free Park and Recreation Study was carried out as a partnership among the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association, and the Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation program, with funding provided by the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco. Surveys were mailed to randomly selected Minnesota residents age 22 and older in July 2004; phone interviews with park directors and park board members were conducted from May to October 2004.
For more detailed information on the study, please contact Liz Klein, study coordinator, at (612) 626-1799 or klein_l@epi.umn.edu. Click here for a fact sheet. For assistance in adopting a tobacco-free park policy, contact Brittany McFadden, Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation director, at (651) 646-3005 or bhm@ansrmn.org.
| Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation |
| Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota |
| 651 646-3005 FAX 651 646-0142 tfyr@ansrmn.org |
