Children in Scotland have one of the highest levels of under-age gambling in Europe, according to a new study by Glasgow Caledonian University.
Academics looked at 2,000 children in west and central Scotland and found almost one in 10 were problem gamblers. A further 15 per cent were deemed at risk and children as young as 11 were found to be missing school to play fruit machines.
Crawford Moodie, the report’s author, attributed this to under-16s being legally allowed to gamble on category D machines which take stakes of 10p and have jackpots of pound;5.
