Tranzo Pearl | Smoke-Free Sports

The Dutch Heart Foundation, KWF Cancer Society, and Lung Fund are fully committed towards a Smoke-Free Generation. The Academic Collaborative Center Addiction and the Academic Collaborative Center Public Health Brabant are also contributing to this. As of 2018, a smoke-free policy at Dutch soccer, field hockey, tennis, and korfball clubs was investigated by PhD researcher Heike Garritsen and her supervisor Anton Kunst of the Amsterdam UMC, in collaboration with co-supervisor and day-to-day coach Andrea Rozema and supervisor Ien van de Goor of Tranzo. During this research, volunteers of sports clubs and policy staff of the municipalities were interviewed, and group discussions were held with youth members of the clubs. The results provided clear insights for forming new policies regarding non-smoking at sports clubs. This follow-up to Andrea Rozema's research on Smoke-Free School Grounds is another step toward a smoke-free generation.

In 2022, there were many developments in the field of Smoke-Free Sports. In 2022, the intervention was submitted by the research team to the RIVM's Loket Gezond Leven, and the Smoke-Free Sport intervention has been a recognized intervention ever since. In 2022, Heike Garritsen also won the National Tobacco Control Research Award. She obtained this not only because of her multitude of published scientific articles on this topic (9 published and 2 submitted) and the multiple presentations to practice organizations, a fact sheet summarizing research findings with recommendations but also because of a prestigious KNAW grant she received to use for international visits. Heike went on an exchange to Colombia University in New York in 2022. There she collaborated with several researchers to write a review on smoke-free homes. In 2023, she will defend her thesis at the University of Amsterdam.

Apply in practice

View the fact sheet (new window)describing the various studies and research findings and very practical tips for sports associations and municipalities to make the implementation of smoke-free policies and compliance easier.