The doctors say they are seeking restrictions on sports betting ads and setting young people for the future of gambling in question.
An editorial published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday said the ads were everywhere during sports broadcasts, and the legalization of online gambling has made all smartphones a potential betting platform.
Editor Dr. Shannon Charleboyce says that even though the betting site is only for people over the age of 19, young people are flooded with ads that imagine betting and enjoying sports.
She says that children and teen brains are still developing and constant exposure to gambling messages normalizes harmful behaviors they can carry to adults
Charlebois says that if a bill regulating sports betting ads is introduced and passed in the Senate, it will be a good start to address the issue.
She hopes that gambling ads will be restricted during the game and will be removed from social media platforms used by young people.
“There is no limit to whether these ads can be placed within sports broadcasts or how long they can be,” Charle Boyce said in an interview, noting that in addition to the commercials, the name of the sports betting platform is projected onto the soccer field and the hockey rink.
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Betting site commentators often have their own segments during game breaks.
“What's very dangerous about this for children is that they normalize known harmful behaviors at an impressive stage, and it's really appealing to young people who can enjoy risk-taking, especially genetically, biologically,” she said.
“I've seen it collapse at all ages, at all ages, at all ages, whether it's an accountant with the career behind him or a child trying to maximize the funds of a university that's lost everything within weeks.”
Dr. Sean Kelly, an Ottawa adolescent addiction expert who co-authored Charbois and editors, said that he saw substance use primarily among patients, but he believes it is a new problem and therefore began screening for gambling behaviour.
He said that there are still many stigmas about gambling addiction, so people can try to hide it and hesitate to seek treatment.
Legally requiring bettors to become adults is not necessarily an effective deterrent, Kelly said.
“There are certain age limits and identity verification attempts to enter these age limits (betting sites), but despite the age limits around, young people have been purchasing alcohol for a long time.
Even if the ads aren't targeting young people, they're still being affected by them, said Kelly, who watches sports with twin children.
“These ads aren't directed at the nine-year-old sitting with me, but I'm picking up them.”
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