AT Studies: Tobacco and nicotine-free universities

Recommendations for measures to promote nicotine- and tobacco-free universities in Switzerland.

from Bastiaan Steiner.

Introduction: Around the world, many universities prohibit the consumption of nicotine and tobacco products on their premises. In Switzerland, universities are not very advanced when it comes to taking preventative measures and implementing such bans. This study therefore aimed to gather the opinions of students on tobacco policy at HESB, ZHAW, and the University of Bern, and to derive recommendations for higher education action.

Method: Quantitative data collection took place over a three-week period. During this time, 856 students were recruited via an online questionnaire; 94 did not complete the questionnaire completely, which explains the 87% response rate.

Results/Discussion: 35.3% of students use tobacco and nicotine products on a daily basis, while around 25% are exposed to second-hand smoke on a daily basis and consider it annoying. The majority of those surveyed were in favour of stricter smoking directives in higher education institutions, but a total ban had little support. For participants, a campus-wide ban on the sale and on the littering of tobacco and nicotine products would be preferable. Students also indicated that higher education institutions have a duty to provide information on behaviours harmful to health, such as tobacco consumption. According to the results, acceptance of possible new directives is considered high.

Keywords: prevention, second[LD1] -hand smoke, tobacco-free campus, students, smoke-free campus

To the study