Stef Kremers - the smoke-free Randwyck campus
It’s no surprise that smoking attracts a lot of attention in research. Smoking prevention, cessation and public health policies on smoking are important actions to improve health. After all, smoking is one of the largest modifiable lifestyle risk factors. Prof. dr. Stef Kremers, vice-dean at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, is part of the academic community working to reduce smoking. He obtained his PhD researching smoking initiation during a time when the whole concept of smoking prevention was still in its early stages.
The unplanned smoking initiation
“Seeing the high prevalence of tobacco use among teenagers in the nineties, a European project was established to work on prevention.” As part of that project, Stef obtained a PhD based on his study of adolescent smoking initiation. “I wanted to map out the process by which a young person starts smoking. The theoretical models of that period suggested that starting to smoke is a deliberate process, following distinct motivational stages. My research showed that reality is different; the so-called ‘decision’ to start smoking is actually more of a reflex or a quick response to an environmental cue. I named it unplanned smoking initiation.”
An unplanned action to start smoking, however, makes prevention more complex. “If the process was rational and phased, we could plan interventions accordingly. But spontaneous initiation means we have to rely heavily on integral health promotion.” Over the past twenty years, health education at schools has been increasingly supported by policymaking, including restrictions on tobacco use, price settings, and numerous local and national campaigns.
Contemporary norms and values
Even though the chances of smoking initiation diminish after the teenage years, Maastricht University continues to support the prevention of smoking. “We focus on prevention at our university by establishing a norm, and we validate that norm through policies that restrict the area in which staff and students are allowed to smoke.” The norm Stef talks about changes over time. ”Actually, I can still recollect teachers and students smoking in the classroom; even during my health sciences study at our faculty!” Today, public spaces use signs that indicate that they are smoke-free. “We call these prompts towards healthy behaviour.”
Those prompts are needed, as students and staff often ignore the non-smoking policy on Randwyck Campus. “Once you look for it, it’s impossible to ignore the number of prohibition signs on our campus grounds outside. But perhaps, being in this environment on a daily basis can cause a blind eye.” Still, Stef asks everyone involved in health to practice what they preach. “Especially for adults who play an influential role in young minds, something that the tobacco industry is well aware of. Think of heroes who used to smoke in movies and even former American presidents who used to promote the use of cigarettes.”
Chess play
Every move the tobacco industry made 40–50 years ago to promote smoking among youth is now apparently being repeated in the field of vaping. “Vapes or e-cigarettes started as being marketed as a healthy alternative to cigarettes. They used the same health narrative when cigarettes were first introduced. We know that’s not true, but the industry continues to promote vapes in all shapes and flavours to attract and hook a young audience. Luckily, we can use decades of tobacco research to accelerate research into vaping.”
The health momentum
Both Maastricht University and MUMC+ are making efforts to prevent smoking. Stef, as a member of the Board at MUMC+, sees chances in using the currently explored intensified collaboration between university and hospital as momentum to implement more health interventions. “For example, a healthy lifestyle is becoming increasingly important in the patient journey to recover better from surgery. At the same time, we know that productivity and academic performance increase when healthier lunches are available for staff and students at reasonable prices, when relaxation spaces are created, and work pressure is reduced. Let us embrace the idea of Healthy Living, for the sake of the well-being of our students, employees, patients and inhabitants of our region.”
We encourage all staff and students to contribute to a healthy campus environment by respecting the smoke-free policy. View the map of our smoke-free campus here.
Text: Ruben Beeckman
Photography: Jonathan Vos/Joëlle van Wissen
Also read
-
Vote for UM Professor Gera Nagelhout as Vrouw in de Media
The Limburg jury of the Vrouw in de Media Award has selected UM professor Gera Nagelhout (CAPHRI) as a nominee for the Vrouw in de Media Award 2025. The award highlights women who, over the past year, have been notably and impactfully visible in the media as experts.
-
Heated tobacco products are not a safe alternative to cigarettes
Heated tobacco products (HTPs) are not a safe alternative to cigarettes, according to recent research by Maastricht University and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). Nevertheless, these products are often marketed as less harmful.
-
Kazem Banihashem – educational technologist and lecturer in AI in education
Kazem recently joined SHE as a researcher on AI in education and a lecturer within the MHPE programme. He also works as an AI in education trainer for Educational Development & Research.
