Children bombarded by betting adverts developing gambling problems, NHS warns

Matthew Gaskell said impressionable children are “becoming more interested in gambling” because they are frequently exposed to gambling adverts on TV and social media.

The consultant psychologist, who is based in Leeds, said the Government should ban bookmakers from advertising on TV before the 9pm watershed and work to ensure that fewer children are exposed to those promotions online.

According to the Gambling Commission, there are an estimated 55,000 young people (age 11-16) that have a problem with gambling in the UK.

The commission has also found that one in eight young people follow gambling companies on social media and they are three times more likely to spend money on gambling.

“The constant and ever-present nature of this targeted advertising reinforces the idea that gambling is a normal activity with zero risk, which we know simply isn’t true,” said Mr Gaskell.

"The potential here for harm really can’t be overstated.

“The exposure to children is ubiquitous. It's also embedded into sports like football.

“We're seeing this pattern of children becoming more interested in gambling and it's a real concern for the future.”

The NHS Northern Gambling Service and public health directors from across Yorkshire recently launched a campaign called ‘Gambling Understood’, which aims to outline some of the tactics bookmakers use and the harm they can cause.

Mr Gaskell said these companies, which make more than £11bn a year in the UK, run extensive advertising campaigns and target people with free bets and personalised incentives.

They also “aggressively market highly addictive products” like online casinos which are designed to “accelerate losses”, he added.

Greg Fell, Director of Public Health in Sheffield, said the industry’s “effective sales tactics” are “doing very real harm” as they get people hooked.

"There can be serious consequences, like depression, anxiety, relationship breakdown, debt and sometimes, sadly, suicide," he said.

“A third of gamblers said that marketing prompted them to spend money and 18.6 per cent of people said being offered a free bet re-started their gambling,” he said.

The Government’s proposals to overhaul gambling laws, which were set out in a white paper in April, are currently under consultation.

Betting companies spend more than £1.5bn a year on advertising and the Government said the adverts “can have a disproportionate impact” on problem gamblers and “a strong appeal” to young people.

The Gambling Commission has already restricted marketing and promotional offers which target people who are known to be at risk and it will conduct a review of “incentives”, such as free bets and bonuses, to ensure they “do not encourage excessive or harmful gambling”.

The Government and the commission are also planning to produce and share their own messages on safer gambling, instead of allowing betting companies to do so.

It comes after footballers and celebrities were banned from gambling adverts last year, by the Committee of Advertising Practice, and Premier League football clubs agreed to a voluntary ban on front-of-shirt sponsorship by the end of the 2025-26 season.

Other measures set out in the white paper include maximum stakes for online slot machines of between £2 and £15 for all customers and a tax that would require bookmakers to fund research and treatment programmes.