U.S. Senator Katie Britt is urging federal health officials to take a closer look at the impact of sports gambling on America’s youth.
Britt (R-Montgomery) joined U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois in leading a bipartisan letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calling for additional research into how minors are engaging with sports gambling platforms and the effects it may have on teens and young adults.
“We write to urge the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study how America’s youth are being impacted by the rapid rise of sports gambling across America,” the senators wrote.
“Since the legalization of sports gambling in the United States, there has been limited research examining the extent to which minors are accessing sports betting platforms – whether through illegal access of legitimate platforms or through illegitimate offshore operations,” the letter states. “However, the few existing studies are deeply troubling.”
Britt and her colleagues said the lack of reliable data leaves parents and policymakers without a clear understanding of the scope of the issue.
“We believe policymakers and American families deserve to know the extent to which our children are engaging in potentially addictive and detrimental behavior,” they wrote.
As part of the request, the senators urged the CDC to expand its Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which tracks health-risk behaviors among students every two years.
They asked the agency to “develop and incorporate questions about gambling by children, and in particular sports gambling, to give policymakers and families a better understanding of how, and to what extent, sports gambling is harming our children.”
Britt has also pressed federal officials to take action against illegal gambling operations that target minors.
She recently led a separate bipartisan letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging the Department of Justice to take “robust action on illegal offshore gaming operations targeting minors.”
Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at sherri@yellowhammernews.com.
