Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP)
Tobacco-Free Living Goal: Reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke where residents live, work, and play.
The Partnership for a Healthier Fairfax has been working to increase access to smoke-free parks and outdoor recreational environments. Additionally, the Partnership works with schools to update policy to align with Tobacco-free School Laws, as well as with property managers of multi-unit housing neighborhoods to increase the number of voluntarily implemented smoke-free policies.
To find out more about Fairfax's Tobacco-Free Living objectives and key actions, read the Community Health Improvement Plan 2019-2024 Annual Report - Year 6.
What's Happening in the Community?
Tobacco-Free Parks
- The stats: More than 15 million people visit Fairfax County Park Authority amenities for recreational, athletic and social activities each year. In 2012, an estimated 840,000 children played on playgrounds and more than 1 million people used athletic fields maintained by the Park Authority.
- The vision: Parks should be clean and safe outdoor environments for children and their families to visit and enjoy.
- The results: The Partnership and the Fairfax community have worked to improve the health of its residents by reducing or preventing secondhand smoke exposure at park amenities:
- In May 2014, the Park Authority Board adopted a significant tobacco-free policy for our community – the designation of all park playgrounds, athletic fields and skate parks as "Tobacco Free Play Zones."
- In September 2014, the Fairfax County School Board also adopted the same policy for school playgrounds and athletic fields.
- In January 2016, the Park Authority Board adopted the expansion of tobacco-free play zones to include tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, as well as amphitheaters and marinas. Additional expansion zones are underway.
These actions encourage the healthier use of more than 1,500 public playgrounds, athletic fields and skate parks in Fairfax while discouraging tobacco-use within our community. The Reston Association has also significantly contributed to these efforts by adopting smoke-free policies, posting their own smoke-free signs on and around its 55 miles of trails and pathways and more than 1,350 acres of open space.
Get Involved
To join the Tobacco-Free Living Priority Issue Team, email us or call us at 703-246-8856
, TTY 711.
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