The board of the Tillicum Woodbrook Neighborhood Association (TWNA) supports the unanimous recommendation of the Lakewood’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to ban tobacco products and electronic cigarettes on park property.
With arguably the most pristine park in the city within its neighborhood geographic boundaries of Tillicum, the TWNA board further appreciates and expects that its elected representatives will give due diligence to that end.
Consider the following:
- All parks within the jurisdictions of Puyallup (2005), Gig Harbor (2007), Tacoma (2009), and Peninsula Metropolitan Parks District (2012) went tobacco-free, a combined 20 years of enforcement history, now with Pierce County likely to follow, according to Brynn Grimley reporting this past January 19 in the Tacoma News Tribune.
- Grimley likewise stated that “roughly 1,000 people in Pierce County die each year from tobacco-related diseases, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.”
- Number four (of eight) on the Council’s Priority list is to “improve the quality of life” of all Lakewood residents. Take the one-minute, forty-five second video tour of Lakewood available on the city’s website and the first words extoll the city’s reputation as being one of the nation’s best 100 places for young people.
- An article in the Tacoma News Tribune, May 6, 2008 (A4), was headlined, “Bans seem to discourage kids from picking up habit.” The habit referenced was smoking and the article described what happened when teens witnessed “a community sending the message frowning upon (tobacco) use.” An excerpt: “Youths who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than those in communities with no bans or weak ones.”
- Smoking, according to the surgeon general, is responsible for 480,000 premature deaths a year; and – for the babies that are born – vision loss, tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, impaired immune function, and cleft palates are found in children of pregnant women who smoke; plus bladder cancer, cervical cancer and on and on all attributable to tobacco as reported just this past January 20 by Richard Cohen, opinion writer for “The Washington Post.”
- Though City Attorney Heidi Ann Wachter has opined that federal law must first legally ‘free the weed’ before Lakewood storefronts can open their doors, given the latest from President Obama, recreational marijuana could likewise find its way into our public parks. “The Washington Times” Joseph Curl, quoted Obama as saying “that the legalization trend (in Washington and Colorado) should spread, ‘because it’s important for a society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished.’”
It is our TWNA board understanding that the Lakewood City Council has rejected Parks Director Mary Dodsworth’s recommendation banning tobacco and instead has asked the park advisory board “for a new proposal that finds compromise between banning tobacco and allowing its use in designated areas,” with a possible decision by the council at its Feb. 18 meeting.
The TWNA Board however agrees with Terry R. Reid, co-chair of the Tobacco-free Alliance of Pierce County and the more than three-of-every-four (85% of over 200) Pierce County residents surveyed at last summer’s community events – including Lakewood’s Summerfest – that together we want our local parks to be tobacco-free: consistent with the Lakewood City Council’s self-mandated priority to ensure quality of life for all residents.
On behalf of the board of the Tillicum Woodbrook Neighborhood Association,
David Anderson, president
So lets make this ban equitable and not target only tobacco users especially since the board “wants to improve the quality of life” of all citizens. We need to add OBESITY to the list of banishments.
Add this to… Bookmark Overweight and Obesity: Health Consequences on Delicious Bookmark Stop Overweight and Obesity: Health Consequences on LinkedIn Bookmark Overweight and Obesity: Health Consequences on Stumbleupon Rank Prevention Overweight and Obesity: Health Consequences on Digg Rank Prevention Overweight and Obesity: Health Consequences on Reddit Close Text Size: A A AOverweight and Obesity: Health Consequences
The primary concern of overweight and obesity is one of health and not appearance.
PREMATURE DEATH
An estimated 300,000 deaths per year may be attributable to obesity.
The risk of death rises with increasing weight.
Even moderate weight excess (10 to 20 pounds for a person of average height) increases the risk of death, particularly among adults aged 30 to 64 years.
Individuals who are obese (BMI > 30)* have a 50 to 100% increased risk of premature death from all causes, compared to individuals with a healthy weight.
HEART DISEASE
The incidence of heart disease (heart attack, congestive heart failure, sudden cardiac death, angina or chest pain, and abnormal heart rhythm) is increased in persons who are overweight or obese (BMI > 25).*
High blood pressure is twice as common in adults who are obese than in those who are at a healthy weight.
Obesity is associated with elevated triglycerides (blood fat) and decreased HDL cholesterol (“good cholesterol”).
DIABETES
A weight gain of 11 to 18 pounds increases a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes to twice that of individuals who have not gained weight.
Over 80% of people with diabetes are overweight or obese.
CANCER
Overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk for some types of cancer including endometrial (cancer of the lining of the uterus), colon, gall bladder, prostate, kidney, and postmenopausal breast cancer.
Women gaining more than 20 pounds from age 18 to midlife double their risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, compared to women whose weight remains stable.
BREATHING PROBLEMS
Sleep apnea (interrupted breathing while sleeping) is more common in obese persons.
Obesity is associated with a higher prevalence of asthma.
ARTHRITIS
For every 2-pound increase in weight, the risk of developing arthritis is increased by 9 to 13%.
Symptoms of arthritis can improve with weight loss.
REPRODUCTIVE COMPLICATIONS
Complications of pregnancy
Obesity during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of death in both the baby and the mother and increases the risk of maternal high blood pressure by 10 times.
In addition to many other complications, women who are obese during pregnancy are more likely to have gestational diabetes and problems with labor and delivery.
Infants born to women who are obese during pregnancy are more likely to be high birthweight and, therefore, may face a higher rate of Cesarean section delivery and low blood sugar (which can be associated with brain damage and seizures).
Obesity during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of birth defects, particularly neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.
Obesity in premenopausal women is associated with irregular menstrual cycles and infertility.
ADDITIONAL HEALTH CONSEQUENCES
Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risks of gall bladder disease, incontinence, increased surgical risk, and depression.
Obesity can affect the quality of life through limited mobility and decreased physical endurance as well as through social, academic, and job discrimination.
CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
Risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, occur with increased frequency in overweight children and adolescents compared to those with a healthy weight.
Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in children and adolescents. Overweight and obesity are closely linked to type 2 diabetes.
Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80% if one or more parent is overweight or obese. The most immediate consequence of overweight, as perceived by children themselves, is social discrimination.
So Council members, taking all of the above into account, maybe you should just ban everything and everybody or stop trying to control everyone’s behavior and leave it up to people to make their own choices regarding their health.