No Butts About It: Parsippany Enters Competition to Help Employees Quit Smoking

Parsippany will be among five municipalities where public employees will compete to quit smoking.

The township will join Paterson, Vineland, West Milford and  Woodbridge in the "Kick Butts'' competition, launched by the Mayor's Wellness Campaign, in conjunction with the New Jersey Healthcare Quality Institute and Pfizer pharmaceutical company and Fox Chase Cancer Center.

The winning municipality will be whichever has the highest number of public employees who have gone the longest without smoking. The results will be announced at a press conference in September.

"According to the Centers for Disease Control, cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and its incidence amongst public employees, particularly police and firefighters is high," Emily Littman, director of the Mayors Wellness Campaign, said in a released statement.  "We are grateful to both Pfizer and Fox Chase for their collaboration on this important project."

The employees will be following a program  designed by Fox Chase Cancer Center to to help even heavy smokers kit and avoid a potential relapse, according to Dr. Suzanne M. Miller, director of Psychosocial and Biobehavioral Medicine Program at Fox Chase and Dr. Amy Lazev, assistant research professor at Fox Chase.

"There are no losers in this competition," Littman said. "At the end of the contest, every participating municipality will receive a $1,000 grant after providing the MWC with all the documentation required."

The Mayors Wellness Campaign is an initiative of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute , in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities. It supports mayors as champions of community health.