The Utah County Board of Health voted unanimously Monday to begin working with cities to ban or at least limit smoking in parks across the county.

Board members concluded that limiting smoking in parks was a good idea but were not sure how to go about instituting it. Despite having the power and authority to prohibit smoking in parks, they did not want to force a rule onto cities.

The board's decision followed a presentation by Jen Tischler, who works with tobacco prevention and control in the Utah County Health Department. Members of OUTRAGE, a local youth anti-tobacco group, joined Tischler.

Tischler and OUTRAGE gathered more than 5,100 surveys asking people across Utah County what they thought should be done about smoking in parks. About 58 percent of those surveyed thought all tobacco use in parks should be banned, with an additional 26 percent favoring a ban on smoking. Thirty-three percent favored smoking being allowed in parks, but only in limited, designated areas. Four percent thought no action needed to be taken, and 1 percent favored other actions. (People were allowed to vote for more than one option, which skewed the total percentage figures.)

In the presentation, Tischler stressed how harmful smoking is to children, especially secondhand smoke. In a 2006 study released by the surgeon general, it was reported that 50,000 people die from secondhand smoke each year. An additional 126 million are exposed to it.

"We [Utah County] have the lowest smoking rate in the state, but we're behind the ball in protecting people from secondhand Smoke," Tischler said.

In a study by Stanford University, it was found that secondhand smoke in outdoor places can reach levels just as high as indoor facilities. Smoking in a park could be just as dangerous as smoking inside, Tischler said.

"Parks are a place where kids should be smoke-free," she said. "It's a friendly environment ... but smoking is allowed everywhere in Utah County parks. The perception that gives the children is that it is normal. It normalizes it."

Steve White, a county commissioner and member of the Board of Health, knows first hand the effect smoking can have on children. He was raised in a smoking household, and he began smoking when he was only 13.

"That's the power of modeling," White said.

Tischler also urged the board to follow the lead already established by other counties.

Tooele and Davis counties have approved rules making all of the parks in the county smoke-free. Salt Lake County decided to allow individual cities to pass rules, but not all of the cities have approved them yet.

Tischler and OUTRAGE will now take their presentation to the Council of Governments to gauge cities interests. The Utah County Board of Health will make a decision at the next meeting on July 28.