Percepción sobre políticas de espacios libres de humo de tabaco en bares y restaurantes del centro de México

objective. to analyze the perceptions and appreciations over smoke-free environments of restaurant and bar managers from four cities in central mexico. material and methods. managers from 219 restaurants and bars from mexico city, colima, cuernavaca and toluca were surveyed about smoke-free environments opinions and implementation. simultaneously, environmental nicotine was monitored. results. the majority of surveyed managers considered public places should be smoke-free, although more than half were concerned with potential economic loses. implementation of smoke-free environments was more frequent in mexico city (85.4%) than in the other cities (15.3% overall), with consequently lower environmental nicotine concentrations. conclusion. managers acknowledge the need to create smoke-free environments. concerns over economic negative effects derived from the prohibition could explain, at least partially, the rejection of this sector towards the implementation of this type of policy.