Attitudes towards the extension of smoking restrictions to selected outdoor areas in Italy

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the attitudes of Italians on the extension of the smoking ban to selected public outdoor areas. METHODS: The authors considered data from two Italian surveys on smoking conducted in 2009 and 2010 on a total sample of 6233 individuals, representative of the Italian population aged 15 years or over. RESULTS: 64.6% of Italians supported smoke-free policies in public parks, 68.5% in sports stadiums, 62.1% in beaches, 85.9% in school courtyards and 79.9% in outdoor areas surrounding hospitals. Among current smokers, the corresponding estimates were 32.9% for parks, 38.2% for stadiums, 31.2% for beaches, 67.6% for schools and 55.3% for hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Extension of the smoking ban to selected outdoor areas is supported by the large majority of the Italian population. The overwhelming majority of support for smoke-free school grounds and outdoor areas surrounding hospitals indicates that legislative action is required.