November 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 42

Typically, those policy changes result
when residents, local health advocates,
TFYR members, and park employees cooperate in raising public awareness on widely
approved tobacco-related issues.
First among those points of consensus, she says, is that secondhand smoke is
harmful to everyone. Second is that cigarette litter comes with high costs-both in
dollars and in environmental and safety
hazards. Finally, there is the issue of providing healthy role models for children-and
breaking the advertising-fueled connection
between sporting events and tobacco use.
Most Minnesota communities that have
adopted smoke-free parks report high levels of public cooperation, much to the relief
of park directors who expressed concerns
about enforcement difficulties, Anderson
says. In fact, 70 percent of the state's population supports tobacco bans in public parks.
One key to the widespread public support
has been the leadership of youth in the tobacco-free movement. Anderson recounts
youth-led cleanups that have culminated in
park displays featuring enormous jars of cigarette
litter. Communities can agree that the gallons and
gallons of discarded butts have no place in parks-
and that their youngest members shouldn't have
to demonstrate that point.

Community Walking
Programs Gain Speed
" Couch potatoes can do this. The only requirement
is that you can stand for 10 minutes without pain. "
This is how Jeannine Galloway of the Arthritis Foundation describes the criteria for her
organization's program to get arthritis
sufferers of all ﬁtness levels out walkTREND ing.
" Walk with Ease, " like other struc#
tured walking programs sponsored by
such national nonproﬁts as the American Heart Association and the American
Association of Retired Persons, centers on inclusiveness, consistency, social interaction, and the
celebration of small ﬁtness gains.
The many health beneﬁts of walking are certainly not new discoveries. Parks have long offered community-based walking programs, and
building and connecting trails and greenways
have become top priorities for regional planning

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40 Parks & Recreation

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boards throughout the country. Moreover, walking has been on the rise among Americans. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the percentage of people who report
walking at least once for 10 minutes or more in
the previous week rose from 56 percent in 2005
to 62 percent in 2010.
What programs like the Arthritis Foundation's
Walk with Ease initiative provide that localities
cannot is investments in nationwide program
development, commissioned research, member
education, and best practices insights. Furthermore, nonproﬁts specializing in a particular type
of chronic illness provide programs designed for
people suffering with disease-speciﬁc limitations.
In Walk with Ease, six-week group classes led
by certiﬁed instructors include discussion topics
relevant to arthritis management. An individual
program is also available in the form of a workbook
that guides participants through the walking plan.
Because the program depends on safe, convenient
walking routes, the Arthritis Foundation is eager to
partner with park systems and workplaces.
Galloway says the content and strategies are
based on research and tested programs in exercise
science, behavior change, and arthritis management. And studies among program participants
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