North Huntingdon has joined other communities and school districts in Westmoreland County in banning the use of tobacco products from the township’s public parks, playing fields and playgrounds.
The township recently received a certificate for joining the “Young Lungs at Play!” initiative to keep the public play areas free of tobacco. The intent is to eliminate children’s exposure to secondhand smoke at those facilities. The township commissioners had approved making the public recreational areas tobacco free in June.
The initiative assists municipalities to designate parks, playgrounds and recreation fields tobacco-free. Young Lungs at Play! signs will be posted in those tobacco-free public areas.
The state Department of Health lists 75 municipalities, school districts, libraries, child care facilities and other organizations in Westmoreland County that have adopted tobacco-free regulations for playgrounds and recreational areas.
Allegheny County had 70 municipalities, child care facilities and recreational organizations that joined in the tobacco ban.
As of last December, 79% of the children age 15 and younger lived in municipalities that banned tobacco use in public parks, by ordinances, policies, or resolutions.
This program is supported by Addagio Health and the Penn State Extension in Westmoreland County and funded through the health department.
For more information about Young Lungs at Play!, contact Esther Ulery at 724-837-1402.
